Most important meal of the day (Jared)

[Hyun-Jung Choi]

This morning was actually better than Hyun had expected, considering yesterday’s stressful day. The cafeteria was relatively quiet at this hour, most people were probably still in bed. She didn’t want to find herself here when the masses came, she’d get stressed and scared again and unknowingly cause a scene. Which made her think about lunch and dinner again. How was she going to handle that? Eating in the bathrooms, like the girls in those movies did? That would be awfully strange, but she might not have another option. Maybe she could take her food to her dorm and eat there, perhaps her roommates did that as well, who knew?

She stared down at her food with a subtle look of disgust, she had no idea what this was supposed to be, but she couldn’t imagine this to be food. Not human food anyway, it seemed more like something you would give to a cat to fatten it up. Was that their idea? To fatten her up? Sure, she was slightly underweight, but she didn’t look that thin. At least, that’s what she thought.
She poked her fork into it and her subtle look of disgust turned into a very obvious look of disgust when she noticed how fat and greasy her breakfast was. She considered throwing it away, but that would be an insult to the person who made this, and she couldn’t do that.

It was really quiet here, aside from her, there were about four other people. Four girls all sitting by the same table in the center of the room, where they could see everyone come and go. They were exactly the type of girls Hyun had hoped to never run into. She could tell from miles away what they were like; mean and shallow. She’d had plenty of those on her old school, girls who seemed to be both friends and enemies with everyone. Luckily they hadn’t noticed her yet, or they had and simply didn’t care. She preferred the latter.
When she heard them all laugh, she felt nervous again, feeling they were laughing at her. But when she looked up, she noticed they were looking at a picture on one of the girl’s cell phones before noting how ugly the guy was and how right the girl had been to reject him.

She sighed in relief when she realized they weren’t talking about her, and decided to try out her food now, before it got cold and, if at all possible, worse.
As soon as the food reached her tongue, Hyun started to gag at how disgusting it was. She held her hand in front of her mouth to hide the fact that she was almost choking, but her eyes were starting to water and she worried about how much longer she could remain quiet.
Dear sweet Jesus, what was this made of? Had they performed liposuction on a pig and put its fat in this bowl for her to enjoy?

[Jared Park]

Jared groaned when he grabbed the Cocoa Puffs box from his dorm’s pantry and it felt extremely light. No, no, no, he thought, still hoping that there are still enough puffs for one last bowl. Stubborn as ever, he opened the suite cupboard and grabbed a bowl, opened the drawer to get a spoon and scoured the fridge for the huge milk container he saw Riley bring in the other day. He put all the stuff on top of the counter and stared at it for a moment, as if his gaze can magically fill the Cocoa Puffs box. He grabbed the box and tilted it to so that if it still has some inside of it, it’ll finally start to come out. He even covered his eyes to create more suspense. For a moment, nothing came out. He tried shaking the box a few times, but nothing. After one last shake, he heard a ding! A lone, singular ding! as a puff hit the bowl. He opened his eyes and once again stared. He didn’t know if he’ll be happy that there’s still something inside the box, or just be insulted that instead of making him feel bad altogether that he didn’t have any cereal left, it teased him by showing him one. “Oh screw this,” he pouted, putting the stuff back to where they were. It seems there isn’t any other choice for today but to go out and eat at the school cafeteria.

He quickly got dressed and walked along the dorm halls towards the canteen. He couldn’t help but feel a bit out-of-place as the school seemed so quiet and serene. Seems he woke up a bit too early then, seeing that the sky’s still a shade of blue, albeit a bit lighter than the dark midnight hue of the night. He happily skipped through the school grounds, even doing a cartwheel as he got out of the dorm compound and walked into the grass, enjoying the refreshing morning breeze. It was cold, yes, but it was also invigorating. “I should really wake up early more,” he mumbled.

The usually chaotic cafeteria was extremely silent. Other than the gaggle of geese girls giggling happily in the corner, it was peaceful. Jared usually avoided the cafeteria because it was crowded, humid and noisy. He liked people and socializing, but the state of the place during lunch and dinner was disastrous. He couldn’t believe people could take it really.

He happily skipped to the counter, amazed by how fast he could get his meal as there was no line. He happily paid for his waffles and fruit plate (apparently Ann’s healthy eating has somehow got to him) and looked around for a place to seat. Looking around for a bit and seeing no familiar face, Jared actually considered eating alone for once (he knew the girls in the gaggle but he figures it’ll be a bit too rude to simply barge in when it’s obvious that they’re having fun all by themselves). But then, he saw a girl eating alone across the room. He considered simply leaving her alone and eating by himself, but being all silent isn’t really Jared’s style. And besides, she seems nice and Jared could always use more friends. Putting on a rather wide smile, he walked over to the girl and said, “Mind if I seat with you? I don’t like being alone that much. Especially since the day’s just beginning. It’s not pleasant to start the day alone right?” It doesn’t really make much sense, but at least he’s got something. “I’m Jared. Jared Park,” he added, holding his hand out in front of him for a handshake.

[Hyun-Jung Choi]

After that first bite, Hyun decided to just take her plate, tell the cafeteria ladies she would eat in her dorm and throw it out then, at least they wouldn’t see her disrespectful behavior. They were being disrespectful too, giving her this food and treating her like a pig that needed to fatten up before getting slaughtered. That was actually how she was starting to feel too as she thought about the classes she would have to follow here. What if she wasn’t liked?

“Mind if I seat with you? I don’t like being alone that much. Especially since the day’s just beginning. It’s not pleasant to start the day alone right?”
Hyun blinked a few times as she tried to keep up with the boy’s fast talk. He had a bright smile on his face, so she guessed what he had said was positive. It wasn’t a snide smile, so he likely hadn’t made fun of her.
“Umm…” she mumbled as she tried her hardest to translate his words into something she could understand more easily. ‘Seat, alone, day, beginning, pleasant, alone’ she nodded when she thought she’d gotten the gist of it. “N-No?” no sitting alone wasn’t pleasant.

As her mind puzzled a bit more, she realized she’d just turned him away from her table. “I mean no! Please seat!” her cheeks turned a bright red as she heard the girls on the other table giggle, again, not at her. “S-Sorry… I am… new a-and…” and acting like an idiot.
When he held his hand out to shake, she grabbed onto it with both hands and bowed her head slightly. “Sorry, very good to meet you, I am Hyun-Jung, Choi Hyun-Jung…” she remembered the previous days, and quickly added, “But you may say June if it is too hard to pru…” pri, pra? Pronounce was a pretty difficult word to pronounce. She sighed after she tripped over it a second time and decided to just make things easier on herself, “… say?”

When she got a better look at the boy’s face, her expression turned from one of pure horror at her failures to one of relief. Was he Korean too? But he was so great at speaking English! Was he born here? “Are you… Korean?” she asked hesitantly. It was a weird thing amongst Asians, many got really upset when they were mistaken for another ‘type’ of Asian, because it was like people implied all Asians looked the same. And there were some tensions between the different groups, though it was mostly among the older generations.

[Jared Park]

Jared was actually taken aback when the girl said no. She seemed confused and all, but a no’s a no, and even though Jared felt bad about being sent away, she did have a right to deny him and all, so he just shrugged and turned. He gave the girl a polite “No problem” and was about to go to the next table when she suddenly invited him and all. Oh, so that’s the problem.

“I see. No worries,” he said, smiling as he sat down on the chair across her. “I was pretty nervous when I was new too. And you seem a bit younger than me too. 14 or 13, I assume?” Not that Jared was a superb judge of age anyway, but she does have this scared-child aura around her that somehow told Jared she isn’t his age yet.

“Choi Hyun-Jung, that’s a very nice name. I like it.” He can’t explain it but the name seems familiar. It’s not that he’s heard of the name before, but it’s more like he’s heard similar, if not altogether the same, words pronounced like such, he just can’t put his finger on it. “Nope, I’m perfectly fine with Hyun-Jung,” he smiled when he offered an alternate name. So Asian, he thought. Though it may sound as an insult, Jared’s actually jealous of those Asian kids with alternate names. Not only does it feel more special, it also seems like they have a better connection with their homeland than others who don’t, namely Jared and his family. “So what shall I call you then, Hyun or Jung? Or Hyun-Jung?”

He started nibbling on his pancake when his eyes darted to the…thing on Hyun’s plate. “Oh gosh, you really are a newbie to this place,” he chuckled, “Just because they wrote ‘special surprise’ on the menu doesn’t mean it’s special. You will be surprised by the stuff they used inside that mixture though.” Hyun shouldn’t feel too bad though as Jared himself made the same mistake when he was new. He did it three times in a row actually, fortunately Tim was good enough to stop him the fourth time. “Here, have this fruit plate of mine. It’s not much, but it’s incredibly better than that lump. Or would you rather have pancakes?”

“Gosh, don’t tell me you are one too?!” Jared almost jumped for joy. “I knew it! That’s why your name sounded so familiar, kind of.” Jared doesn’t take much offense in the whole ‘all Asians look the same’ thing anymore. After more than five years in public school, he’s gotten used to it. He’s been called Japanese, Vietnamese, Chinese, Taiwanese and even Filipino back in his school. “Annyeonghaseyo,” he said, trying to bow and stuttering immensely. It’s been long since he’s spoken to anyone in Korean. It was weird yet at the same time refreshing.

[Hyun-Jung Choi]

“I see. No worries,” he said, smiling as he sat down on the chair across her. “I was pretty nervous when I was new too. And you seem a bit younger than me too. 14 or 13, I assume?”
“Yes… I am thirteen.” She was relieved that he wasn’t angry or upset. No one liked getting rejected, and for a moment she was worried he’d think she were joking with him when she first sent him away and then invited him over. That’s most likely what she would’ve thought if she were in that situation. Luckily, this boy seemed like the laid-back type.

“Choi Hyun-Jung, that’s a very nice name. I like it.”
“You do?” she half gasped, half asked. This was the first time someone actually liked her name. Most people would do their best to pronounce it, but few actually liked it enough that they’d still call her that even after being given an alternative. She blinked a few times when he told her he was fine with her name and asked her how she preferred to be called.
“Um, Hyun is okay.” For the first time since the conversation started, she smiled.
What a pleasant surprise it was to come across someone like this, who was nice to her even after making a stupid mistake, who actually told her he liked her name and was now offering her food as well?

“Oh gosh, you really are a newbie to this place, just because they wrote ‘special surprise’ on the menu doesn’t mean it’s special. You will be surprised by the stuff they used inside that mixture though.”
Hyun paled as she looked down at her plate, “Do I… want to know?” she asked uncertainly. She was curious about what could be so horrible about it… but did she really want to know if it was something so awful that no one wanted to eat it?
“Here, have this fruit plate of mine. It’s not much, but it’s incredibly better than that lump. Or would you rather have pancakes?”
“Are you sure? You do not want it?” she had to admit that fruit plate looked a billion times better than her own food, but she hated just stealing someone’s food. But he’d offered it, so it should be fine.
And she wouldn’t do anyone a favor by eating her own ‘food’, one more bite of that and it was going to come out again.

“Thank you very much!” She beamed at him as she accepted the fruit plate.
Just as she was about to take a bite, the guy next to her yelled excitedly at her.
“Gosh, don’t tell me you are one too?! I knew it! That’s why your name sounded so familiar, kind of.”
She swallowed a single strawberry before she looked up at him with almost sparkling eyes, “You are one too then!” she wanted to hug him, she really did. Finally she’d found someone she could relate to a bit better.
The people she’d met before had all been nice, and she liked them, but there was something they’d never understand, no matter how hard they tried. They wouldn’t understand what it was like to be looked at as a stranger.

“What is your name? Where are you from?” she asked excitedly, completely forgetting about her food for a moment. A small part of her old self resurfaced at that moment and she actually felt relaxed for the first time in almost a year.
“Annyeonghaseyo,” he stuttered and struggled with the pronunciation a bit, but Hyun didn’t really care. Even if he hadn’t been born or raised in Korea, he was still in some way family.
”Pleased to meet you as well!”

[Jared Park]

While Jared may be a bit on the sensitive side of things, making him angry is a really hard task. Making him feel bad about himself is easy, but making him think unkindly of others is not. He prides himself for being understanding of others and having the ability to look at a situation from another’s point of view. And really telling him that he can’t sit with you is not really a problem considering that there are a whole lot of empty tables to choose from. Reject him when there’s nowhere else to sit and he might just reconsider that whole not-thinking-ill-of-others philosophy.

“What’s not to like about it? For one thing, it stands out from all the other names in this place.” Jared loved all things unique and different. While he may not be that much of a non-conformist, he does try to stand out, to make a name for himself. Not that he needs to feed his ego or something (he has yet to develop one apparently), but more to assure himself that he isn’t just a shadow of somebody. The youngest in his family, he has lived his life behind his siblings (not that he holds any ill feeling toward them) so it was his struggle to be known as him and not as so-and-so’s younger brother. “Is June your real name too? Or a name you just picked just in case people can’t say ‘Hyun’?”

He let out a lighthearted chuckle when she asked about the food. “You do not want to know,” he said, munching on his pancake. While he doesn’t know for certain what lies in the accursed concoction, he has heard of a few things about the said mystery. Rat tails, cat eyes, frog legs, ran through his mind. Those were the loving words of a upperclassman when he asked about the dish, which he immediately debunked as they were a bit too similar to witches’ brew ingredients he’s seen on TV. “No problem. The pancakes are heavy enough to fill my small belly as is,” he winked, “I just grabbed that one so I can tell my nagging brother that I do eat fruits once in a while.” A white lie, seeing that he’s a growing teen and his stomach’s like a bottomless pit especially in the morning, but he doesn’t really think it’ll hurt. Anything to save a new student from that horrid dish. It’s not like she can read minds or anything.

“Of course,” he said, laughing at her apparent glee. He understands her joy in befriending someone and knowing that they share the same race as you, but he couldn’t help but feel like her joy stems from something else. He couldn’t quite put his finger on it, but it seems that her new-ness is not just because of her being new to Hammel, but being “new” to the world. And that finding someone ‘like her’ somehow gave her a bit of comfort.

“Call me hyung then,” he said, remembering the fact that he’s older than her, “Jared-hyung.” He smiled so proudly, apparently not aware that he just made a rather funny mistake. “Unfortunately I have no cool Korean name like you Hyun,” he added, his lips pouting playfully as he spoke, “I was born in Canada. Never stepped on Korean soil before.” Which was never really a big issue for him, now that he thinks about it. All his aunts and uncles grew up in Canada, so he never really had immediate relatives residing there to visit. “How about you? You from Korea Korea?”


ooc:
Sorry for the late reply Sunshine. RL got in the way and all that. >.<
-Jam
[/font]

[Hyun-Jung Choi]

“What’s not to like about it? For one thing, it stands out from all the other names in this place.” [/b]
“Hmm…” she nodded in agreement, but then quickly shrugged her shoulders “Is just that no one can ever say it right.” Which was kind of annoying, but also understandable when you looked at the names that seemed to be common here, they were completely different from hers. His next question made her just smile and nod, “I did not pick it, my mother did. It is strange when your mother starts to call you by another name.”

When he told her she didn’t want to know about what she’d just eaten, she gulped slightly, staring at her plate with somewhat fearful eyes. It couldn’t be that bad… he was just messing with her. He had to be.
Oh dear, what had she just eaten that it was so horrible he couldn’t even tell her?
“Why would they serve it to people? How can they be so cruel?” she frowned and turned her face to briefly look at the cafeteria ladies. Maybe they had mind-reading powers too, and just loved to hear people scream in anguish inside their own heads upon eating the food.
Thank goodness she didn’t have to eat it any more, now that Jared had so graciously offered her his fruit plate. Just a bit of fruit likely wouldn’t last her throughout the entire day, and she’d be forced to come back here around lunch time, but there was no guarantee she would’ve survived if she’d eaten that ‘thing’ on her own plate. In fact, she wholly believed that if she took just one more bite of it, she’d have to run to find a bathroom because her stomach wouldn’t allow such abuse.

“My belly is small too,” she put on a pout before continuing silently, “Just like the rest.” Oh how she hated being this short, especially in a country of giants. Hopefully she wasn’t done growing yet, it would be tragic if she were still a midget at age twenty. She looked down at her body for a second and sighed. If she wanted to grow, she’d likely have to eat a bit more. But, like she said, she had a small belly, and she felt full after even the smallest of meals.
“I just grabbed that one so I can tell my nagging brother that I do eat fruits once in a while.” [/b]
Her eyes narrowed slightly when she realized he was lying to her. She looked up at him and rose a single eyebrow. Should she comment, or shouldn’t she? The lie wasn’t serious enough to call him out on it, but this could be an excellent opportunity to let him know about her powers… better now than at some awkward time. That was under the assumption they’d ever meet again after today. She truly hoped they would, if only so she wouldn’t feel so out of place here.
“I hope your bottomless pit will forgive me for stealing its food.” She copied his wording before innocently eating a small piece of fruit. “I can read minds.” She whispered a little uncertainly, clarifying her meaning in case his mind wasn’t fully functional this early in the morning.

“Call me hyung then, Jared-hyung.”[/b] He smiled proudly at himself. “Hyu-“ she started before snapping her jaws back together. Apparently he didn’t realize what he had just implied. Sure, hyung would’ve been appropriate… if Hyun had been a young boy, that was.
She pressed her lips tightly together to keep herself from laughing at his error, he obviously thought he was saying it correctly, and he’d been so nice to her, she couldn’t bring herself to correct him. Maybe one day, when they knew each other a little better.
Besides, Hyun didn’t really have a feminine body yet anyway. If she cut her hair short, she might even be able to pass for a boy.
“Alright then, Jared-hyung.” She said with a smile. A fake pout replaced Jared’s smile as he mentioned his own name and birthplace. It was a little saddening that he hadn’t been to Korea in, well, ever. It was his home, even if he wasn’t born there, so why hadn’t his family brought him there at least during the holidays?
He didn’t seem to mind it much though, and apparently his family all lived here too, so other than going on a vacation, they probably had no reason to ever visit the country.

“How about you? You from Korea Korea?”[/b]
“I am from South Korea, yes.” She said proudly, “We moved here last year, but my mother taught us some English as we were growing up.” She explained. Even if her English wasn’t perfect, it wasn’t atrocious for someone who had only lived in the country for one year, give or take.
“It is really different from the United States!” she sounded surprisingly cheerful, considering she’d felt so miserable a few hours ago. Talking about her home always had that affect on her, “Everyone is so casual, I feel really weird talking to them…” going from a culture where respect was everything to one where everyone addressed each other so casually had been difficult for Hyun. She still caught herself bowing to her elders, or speaking extra formally to new people. Often times, people looked at her strangely, and sometimes, they’d even mock her for it. But how could she possibly change that aspect of herself? Teaching a child manners was far less difficult than teaching them to be – in Hyun’s eyes – rude.


OOC: No worries, RL is busy for me as well, so my posts may come slowly too.

[Jared Park]

Jared sliced off a rather large piece of pancake, grabbed it with his fork and held it in front of him as he nibbled on it while listening to Hyun tell her complicated but equally interesting story behind her name (in his eyes anyway). “Nah, it’s not that hard to pronounce,” he laughed. Despite not being fluent in Korean, he does pride himself for having the ability to say a few words with near perfect pronounciation, Korean or otherwise (he claims Asian languages have a similar sound to them, hence being relatively easy to say). “I mean, it’s not their fault their tongue’s not as awesome as ours.” Not that Jared looks down on non-Asians. He just figured Hyun’s still a bit uncomfortable with all these non-Koreans around her and a little racist joke would hopefully be enough to boost her self-esteem.

“Your mother picked it for you? Why? Couldn’t you choose one for yourself?” Hyun is thirteen anyway, she’s not too young so she can’t decide for herself. Sure she may regret her choice in the future (as she may deem it a bit too embarrassing, like what Jared feels like with his MSN address), but at least she’s the one who chose it. If it was Jared, he’d want to be the one to chose his own. Not that he doesn’t like his current name, but he just feels like if he left it to his parents, they’d choose another ‘J’-inspired name, something he wishes he could change really. “That would be extra weird then. Maybe she’s just trying to acclimatize you or something,” he smiled, eagerly finishing his food.

He laughed rather loudly as he saw Hyun’s distressed face. He didn’t mean to upset her that much, but the mischievous side of him just can’t help it. Seems being an upperclassman does have its benefits. “Gotcha Hyun,” he chuckled, sticking his tongue out like a real mature kid, “While nobody knows what really goes into that witches’ brew, I’m sure no toxic material gets into it. The administration wouldn’t allow it. And besides, the cafeteria ladies aren’t really sadists.” Despite the stereotypes, Jared found that most of the staff in Hammel are actually pretty friendly. Sure there exists a chosen few (that grumpy receptionist, for one) but people are generally welcoming and warm. “I think ‘Special Surprise’ are mostly leftovers recycled,” he nodded, remembering the times he found some weird dish back in his house and was later enlightened that Jasper and his grandmother brainstormed and invented a new dish. “I mean, they can’t just throw food right. With all the famine and starvation issues going around.”

“Nah. Don’t think like that. Like my sister says, you’re not short. You’re… what’s that word again… petite? Yeah, petite. Cute and petite.” He reached across the table and gave Hyun a light pat on the head and ruffled her hair a bit. He finds it funny how Asians can be extremes when it comes to height – some can be real short while others are extra tall. He’s actually fortunate that he and his brother got the ‘tall genes’ – tall genes for Asians that is. He’s sure he won’t reach 6’5” (but he still hopes), but at least he’s confident he’d be considered average or a bit above average among these monoliths. His sister, on the other hand, wasn’t fortunate enough – she received the shorter end of the stick, pun intended. Jared caught up with her and quickly ‘overtook’ her when he was just thirteen. “And besides, you’re a girl. I doubt people would take me seriously if I was short.” Apparently Jared did not realize the discriminatory subtext his perfectly innocent statement contained.

His eyes widened when she said ‘bottomless pit’. True, his brain wasn’t functioning too well to recognize that she was a telepath with that statement alone, but it did tell him that something was up. When she did say that she can read minds, his cheeks quickly became red with embarrassment. “Oops,” he said, nervously scratching the back of his head. His eyes darted to and fro, not really finding the will to look at her straight in the eye after his lie. “Awkward,” he mumbled.

Her welcoming response to his initiation to be called ‘Jared-hyung’ did take his embarrassment off a bit. It was a very needed distraction to say the least. And fortunately Hyun was kind enough to let his mistake pass too. His parents and grandparents still practice such title-calling (his father calls Jared’s aunt ‘noona’ over the phone whenever Jared overhears them talking), they never really pressured Jared and his siblings to do the same. They still instilled a sense of respect for the elders to them young ones, but it wasn’t that strict really. Somehow they bent it over a bit, which Jasper theorized is because they’re in the Western world now. “Hooray. Now we’re, what do you call that again… donghaeng? Raengsaeng? Dongbang? You know, the brother-sister kind of thing?” He should’ve paid more attention really when his grandfather told him about Korean customs and all that stuff.

“Your English is really good though. They didn’t put you to ESL when you first came I assume.” While Hyun still had some accent in her, considering the time she’s been in the states, she’s actually pretty good. Jared’s heard far worse. “That’s the ‘white people’ for you,” he laughed at Hyun’s apparent dilemma, remembering the stories his father and mother used to tell them about their first few years in Canada. “Dad says he got confused as well. But since he came here when he was 8, he eventually lost the bowing. Mom never got over it though,” he said with a smile, hoping it would help Hyun feel more comfortable. In his opinion, Hyun shouldn’t change that really – that being respectful of people is a nice value she should cultivate. He would really rather prefer that the people change and be more like Hyun than the other way around.

[Hyun-Jung Choi]

“I mean, it’s not their fault their tongue’s not as awesome as ours.”
“True,” she agreed as she picked up a small piece of banana, which she almost instantly dropped when she realized the meaning behind Jared’s statement.
For a moment, she just stared at him, but then she couldn’t suppress her laughter any longer and hid her mouth behind her hand, pretending she was just coughing or something innocent like that.
‘No laughing at racist jokes!’ her mind reminded her, ‘People make fun of you because you’re Asian, you should know better!’ but she barely paid any attention to her conscience as it yelled at her. It was because people had made fun of her for her Asian heritage that she didn’t feel too horrible about laughing – she didn’t want anyone else to notice it, because she was supposed to come across as a nice and demure girl – but that was different. It was good to be the one on the joking side for once, rather than be the one joked about.
“You are terrible, Jared-o..hyung.” She corrected herself. No one here would understand the difference between hyung and oppa anyway, so it wasn’t a big deal if she called him the wrong thing.
She’d have to avoid Jared on days when her family would come to visit though – if they planned on ever visiting – or things could get pretty awkward.


“Your mother picked it for you? Why? Couldn’t you choose one for yourself? That would be extra weird then. Maybe she’s just trying to acclimatize you or something,” he smiled, eagerly finishing his food.
“Well… I could, but… I did not want to.” She frowned a bit before continuing, “I did not want to change my name at all. I wanted to be called Hyun, but my mother did not think that would be okay outside Korea. Because I did not want to change it, she changed it for me.” And in all honesty, she wouldn’t know what else to call herself.
This name came closest to her real name, and that was most important to her. At least she didn’t feel like a 100% different person then.
She envied her sister, Min. No one had trouble pronouncing her name, and so she could keep it. But did she? Nooo, of course not. When Hyun changed her name, she wanted to do the same.
She hadn’t decided on a name yet, at least, not when Hyun was still around. For all she knew, her sister had thought up a name on the drive home from Hammel, and was now called Francine or something odd like that.
“She means well… I guess.” Hyun sighed at his comment about her mother trying to acclimatize her.
It wasn’t easy to admit, but it was probably true. There had been plenty of people who couldn’t pronounce her name – as her mother had foreseen – and in the end, she did give her a similar enough sounding name.


“Gotcha Hyun,” Jared chuckled as he saw her distressed face about the food, sticking his tongue out at her like a little kid before assuring her there was no toxic waste in there and it was likely just left-overs.
“Not funny!” Hyun pouted as she straightened her messy hair again, though anyone could tell she wasn’t serious, “You really scared me.”

“Nah. Don’t think like that. Like my sister says, you’re not short. You’re… what’s that word again… petite? Yeah, petite. Cute and petite. And besides, you’re a girl. I doubt people would take me seriously if I was short.”
“But I am not a doll,” She moped, not really noticing the discriminatory subtext either, “I do not want to be just cute and peti…” she stopped talking for a moment to repeat the word to herself a few times, “Peti…te? I am serious person and people need to see me as a serious person! Not cute doll from China.”
Her face reddened some, “I am not China-doll! If I am doll, I am Korea-doll.” She crossed her arms childishly as she recalled all the times people had called her Chinese, Japanese, Filipino or whatever Asian country they could think of. And once she said she was Korean, there came the jokes of Kim-jong Il and North Korea. Stupid Americans. It wasn’t funny at all.

Jared’s cheeks went slightly red with embarrassment when she informed him of her telepathy. Hyun mimicked the action and hung her head – maybe she should’ve kept it to herself after all…
“Oops, awkward,” he mumbled.
“Sorry… I wish I did not have it too.” she replied sadly.
She didn’t offer to leave just yet, like she had with others in the past. She really didn’t want to leave yet, this was the first time in a while that she’d been genuinely happy and at ease again, and she didn’t want to give it up yet, selfish though that desire was.
“I am going to ask if a surgery exist to have it removed.” Probably impossible, why else would anyone be here if it could just be removed, after all. But it never hurt to ask.

“Hooray. Now we’re, what do you call that again… donghaeng? Raengsaeng? Dongbang? You know, the brother-sister kind of thing?”
Hyun smiled happily when he spoke up again. Thank God, she hadn’t scared him away with her mind-reading foolishness.
“Dongsaeng,” She informed him with a smile, “That means younger sibling.” She really wasn’t sure if there was a word for ‘siblings’ in Korean… she hadn’t really heard it often. Most people just said ‘This is my big sister/brother!’ rather than saying, ‘we are siblings.’
There were a few other words she could tell him, the word for brothers/sisters, or family… but surely he didn’t truly care that much about her language and was just being polite. Aw well, at least it kept the conversation going.
“Or gajok… which means family.” She said casually, so that if he really was pretending to be interested, she could in turn pretend it wasn’t a big deal.

“Your English is really good though. They didn’t put you to ESL when you first came I assume.”
“The… ESL?” having lived here for a year, she should know these things! But she’d been so busy whining and moaning about going back to Korea and trying her absolute hardest not to integrate as a protest against her parents that she barely knew anything about her new home country. Now she kinda wished she’d tried a little harder.
“That’s the ‘white people’ for you,” Jared laughed “Dad says he got confused as well. But since he came here when he was 8, he eventually lost the bowing. Mom never got over it though,”
“How old was your mother when she came here?” the appetite she’d lost when the mood threatened to go south had returned, and she visibly relaxed as she picked up her fork again and continued to eat.
“Oh! And you said you had a sister? Do you have more brothers or sisters? Are they nice?” she felt her face pull into a grin, and she didn’t even try to stop it. Jared made it feel like she was sitting in a cafeteria in Seoul rather than a cafeteria in Hammel, and it took a mighty amount of self-control not to jump up and hug him out of gratitude.

[Jared Park]

“Oh pshaw, stop being such a hypocrite Hyun,” Jared teased, scarfing down another slice of his pancake. He should’ve ordered double (i.e. four pancakes). Who knew he was this hungry so early in the morning? Unlike Hyun, Jared never really experienced any form of discrimination or teasing, at least because of his racial/ethnic identity. Contrary to America’s ‘melting pot’ view on diversity, where in one’s expected to ‘melt’ into society and assimilate their new culture, Jared was blessed to be born in Canada, who prides herself as a ‘mosaic’ nation, where minorities, such as Asian culture isn’t seen as something derogatory or persecuted, but is very much celebrated. Growing up in Vancouver, where the so-called ‘visible minority’ has become the majority, he’s been pretty much exposed to all sorts of cultures that racial comments are in fact jokes to him. He never really takes them seriously, unless of course he could sense some hostility in the speaker. They are what they are – harmless words. Somehow, when it comes to racial comments, he goes ‘Sticks and stones…’. “You really are just new in town Hyun. You have to get used to that sooner or later.” He assumes Korea isn’t really as diverse as what they have in the North Americas, so maybe she’s a bit uncomfortable with the whole variety in front of her right now.

He spread the butter over his food as he listened intently to Hyun’s explanation on how her English name came to be. It never occurred to him that moving from one country to another can be this complicated. Not only do you have to change the way you speak, you also have to change your name, and in effect, your identity. Makes him wonder how his parents, uncles and aunts, even his grandparents handled such a shift in environment. “Well now you know it’s perfectly fine. And I actually like it. But we’ve established that early on anyway,” he smiled. He took a sip from his cup then continued, saying, “I mean, I don’t think you have to use it if you want to anyway. Especially since you’re in the dorms now, right?” One of the few things he actually likes now that he’s away from his family (no matter how adorable they are in his eyes) is the freedom he now experiences. No more no-TV-until-8pm rule. No do-your-homework-and-chores-before-anything-else rule. No more nagging older brother to bother him every now and then. And while he misses making fun of his brother with his sister when he says something funny or they just feel like irritating him, he’s got to admit, being on his own is actually pretty cool. “You know, I actually wish I had a Korean name. Dad and Mom has one, but neither Jasper nor Jeraiah was given something. I feel sad,” he added, sticking his tongue out in embarrassment.

“Isn’t that the cliché teenage rebellion reason anyway?” he asked when she mentioned doubting her parents’ motives. Not that Jared had experienced that frequently anyway. His parents both work abroad to have full grasp on what to do with their children’s lives (not that they don’t try anyway; they just can’t, and Jared doesn’t really blame them). It’s more of Jasper’s forte really, to tell his little brother what he should or should not do. Then again, she’s a telepath, which meant her doubt may have more sense than his. He reached across the table and let his hand settle on Hyun’s shoulder for a bit, giving it a sympathetic squeeze as he spoke. “You don’t have to worry Hyun, you’ll settle in, eventually. I just know it. And besides, you have me now. We’re, what’s that word again, dongsaengs now, right?” And while he’s had his fair share of trying to cheer people up (with Jared’s personality, he’s somehow a magnet for those with a bit of a reluctance to open up), he feels a different kind of responsibility for Hyun. Not only is she younger, she’s also extremely new, not just to the whole issue of being a meta-human, but to her environment. It’s such a big responsibility, and he’s scared he might fail. Where is Jasper when you need him really?

Seems his guilt isn’t a welcome reaction after all. He keeps on forgetting how most of the people here hate dislike their powers. Or being a meta at least. He, on the other hand, loved being a meta. He grew up with Superman and Batman, so being discovered as a ‘super’ is a happy event for him. If only his powers were a lot cooler. “No, no, it’s nothing,” he said, waving his hands in front of him and blushing. Lying is never really an option after all. (If Jasper was here, he’s sure he’d hear an ‘I told you so’ from him). “Don’t! Telepathy is actually a very awesome power you know,” he nodded, this time sincere about what he’s saying, “I mean, it’s part of my Top20 cool powers list. And wouldn’t that be painful?” He imagined a serum being injected to a meta to turn off his meta-gene (much like the move X3[/b]) but surgery? So what, they’ll remove part of Hyun’s brain? Gross and painful. (Hopefully she didn’t just pick that up; they’re eating and he would not wish to make her puke in disgust so early in the morning.)

Hearing Korean words flow so easily out of Hyun made Jared so envious. He wasn’t bored at all; if anything, he’s interested. He’s had some resentment about his parents not teaching him how to speak Korean as he was growing up – they taught him the basics, and a few words that would allow him to understand Korean conversations with more or less ease, but not enough to make him speak it. He actually feels bad that he knows more French than Korean (their school did not offer Korean as a possible second language course, which is optional by the way, so his brother insisted he take French over Mandarin or Spanish; it is Canada’s second language after all). “Ga-jok,” he said with fervor, his face showing small signs of struggle. He let out a little chuckle, feeling proud of himself for his little achievement. “That’s amazing. I know a few words too. Jjang. Daebak.” He turned red in embarrassment, feeling so inadequate speaking Korean in front of one who spoke it her whole life.

“English as Second Language? Never mind. Guess you didn’t really have to take that, seeing that you’re English is flawless,” he said, reassuring her. “Mom? She was around 17 or 18 I think. Said she had a hard time at first too. Said my dad actually helped her adjust better.” And nope, his parents’ love story isn’t that of a soap opera, where through helping each other they fall for one another and boom. As far as Jared knew, they didn’t get together until after their mid-twenties.

Jared laughed when Hyun asked if his siblings were nice. Of course he’d say they aren’t. Isn’t that what siblings do? “Yup, I have two older ones. A brother and a sister. Jasper’s in medical school right now. Or would want to be in medical school, I don’t know. Jeraiah’s still in her final year of high school,” he explained, “We call Jasper ‘Mom’. Omma, right? We were left to our grandparents early on so he somehow became the nagging mother we have come to grow and hate.” He added a light chuckle at the end to tell her that he’s just kidding. Not that she’d believe him, seeing that she can read his true thoughts about his siblings. “How about you, have any bratty siblings?”[/font]