Heart & Seoul (4 page)

I kissed his nose. “You had me at
shopping.”

Chapter Five

After Drake checked in with his mom, we
headed out of the hotel and onto the street. She wanted him to call
her often with his progress, make sure he was okay. Before he left
he assured her he’d be fine and that wasn’t necessary. She insisted
though, so he had to appease her. Their conversation lasted several
minutes with lots of, “I’m fine, Mom. I promise,” on his end; along
with a couple, “Yes, Lacey is fine too.” Of course I got the whole
exchange on camera. It was so cute how he talked to his mother
these days. They’d gotten so much closer since we moved to the
North Shore. After he finished soothing her, she eventually let him
go.

It was still morning on the streets of
Seoul, but Drake and I were running on Chicago time. We’d probably
be heading to bed in a few hours back home. The jet lag would be
killer, but I suggested we take a catnap before heading to dinner
with Jason to help that. Drake agreed.

We went hand-in-hand down the busy walkways;
however, they weren’t as busy as I thought they’d be. Most people
were at work around this time I guess. I held on tight to Drake’s
hand to keep from losing him, but even if I didn’t, I probably
wouldn’t have a problem keeping sight of him. He was taller than
the majority of the people on the street, and they literally parted
like the Red Sea as he made his way through.

We quickly made it to the shopping area I
witnessed from our suite at the hotel, and I couldn’t believe how
bright and flashy everything was. It seriously looked like Times
Square. I was excited to get my shopping on, and Drake took the
camera while I took everything in. I was so surprised to see so
many familiar stores. There was a Forever 21, The Limited, and The
Body Shop among other things, and mostly all the signs down here
were in English as well as Korean. Seoul really was English
friendly.

I swiped the camera from Drake and zoomed
in. “What’s this place called, baby?”

He chuckled, placing his
aviators on to block the sun from his eyes. He looked deliciously
handsome when he did that. “We are in what’s called
Myongdong
, the shopping
district.”

I turned the camera, trying to repeat that,
but when I flubbed I went back to him. He pointed out various
stores for our documentary, and I got it all. I shifted focus to
the vendors, and when I saw a particular stand, I shrieked. Pushing
the camera into Drake’s hands, I bolted over to the display
table.

Drake came up behind me, alarmed. “What is
it? Are you okay?”

I pointed to the wallets,
grinning. “Oh, my gosh it’s
Hello
Kitty
! I loved this stuff as a kid. Pull
the focus right here.”

Drake snorted, silencing oncoming laughter.
Shaking his head, he did what he was told and watched me salivate
over the merchandise. I came across a really cute wallet that
looked like someone my age would carry. It was white and kind of
had the look of a Louis Vuitton, but instead of the “L” and “V”
they had “H” and “K.”

“I want this one.” I snatched it up.

Smirking, Drake dipped his hand into jeans.
“I’d say it was cute and you made an excellent choice, but that
might come across as weird.”

I laughed.

“I’ll get it for you if you want it,” he
said, pulling out his wallet. “How much is it?”

I looked around for the vendor, but she had
her back turned to me, helping another customer. Instead, I sought
out a sign for a price, and when I found it, I practically dropped
the wallet. “It’s five thousand dollars.”

Now it was Drake who almost dropped
something. He had to do a double catch just to keep the camera in
his hand. “What? No way.”

I pointed to the sign that clearly read the
amount. “See. It says five thousand right there.”

Drake’s eyebrows drew in, but the moment he
saw the sign I referred to, he chuckled. He brought me into him and
kissed my cheek. “It does say five thousand, but that’s five
thousand won, baby. Korean currency. It’s around five dollars
U.S.”

“Only five dollars?” I turned to the
wallets. “I love Korea!”

This made him smile. Perhaps moving here
wouldn’t be such a hard change to make after all if we decided to
do that one day. I took the camera so he could get his money
together.

The small vendor finally turned. She had a
black bob and was older. I tried to get her attention, but she
looked over me and went straight to Drake. I’d be insulted, but
frankly, I didn’t blame her. My eyes would beeline to that strong
chin and those smoldering mahogany-toned eyes too. It may be a bit
vain of me, but I loved how those eyes only saw me.

“
Annyeonghaseyo
.” She bowed, her eyes
shining as she stared up at my man. I was happy to know that meant
hello, but that’s where my Korean stopped when she continued on in
a short phrase. The words were high pitched and excited, and I had
to laugh. She looked at least fifty, but she was giving my guy the
flirty voice behind her sale. What she said must have been
something Drake understood because he didn’t look thrown by the
statement.

He returned her
friendliness with a bow just as she did. He greeted her and rattled
off a phrase in Korean, but what was weird was what happened after
he did. The woman’s upbeat expression wiped from her face. Her
eyebrows narrowed,
and she appraised him
with her stare. Like she was trying to figure out what to make of
him. It flashed in my mind that he may have accidently insulted her
or something, and by the way Drake awkwardly stared at her, I bet
he was questioning the same thing. Drake didn’t know much of the
language, but what he did I was sure he had down pat. He prepared
like crazy for this trip.

Out of nowhere the woman spoke. “Wallet five
thousand won.”

I flinched. Why was she suddenly speaking
English? Just a moment ago, she was all friendly, practically
flirting with my fiancé in Korean. Now, she was shooting him
English with a clear snap in her voice. Her body language was weird
too. She was stiff and still analyzing him. What was her deal?

Drake’s reaction was a lot subtler than
mine. He simply gave her a small nod, but the smile he gave seemed
really tight, forced even. He took out the brightly colored won,
exchanging it for the wallet that the vendor bagged.

He handed the small bag off to me, and I had
to adjust the camera to slip it on my wrist. That was when I
realized I got the whole thing on camera.

♥ ♥ ♥

We didn’t really discuss the woman’s weird
reaction to Drake’s Korean at the stand. Mostly because it happened
again. Every time I stopped to buy something, Drake would take the
lead and pay. The vendors would be super nice to him, chatting him
up in the language, then the moment he opened his mouth to speak,
they’d analyze him and switch over to English. Some were more
polite about it than others, but it still happened. I grew sick of
it and decided to do the talking. The vendors automatically spoke
English to me, and I didn’t want things to be awkward for Drake. He
was taking it well, but he wasn’t as talkative as he was when we
first started shopping. When he suddenly started engrossing himself
in the merchandise, I knew he was trying to avoid talking. Shopping
was definitely my thing and not his.

I approached a sunglasses stand and decided
to make it my last vendor. It was about time for our nap anyway
before dinner and I was tired of people treating Drake weirdly.
This whole outing went from being fun to really uncomfortable for
Drake, and I wanted to end it.

Drake studied some bracelets that he said he
wanted to get for his sister and mom while I thumbed through the
glasses.

“Hello, Miss.”

Another tiny vendor approached me. It was
hard not to smile at her. She radiated enthusiasm. “You from here
or just visiting city?”

This encounter was the first time someone
was actually interested in my purpose in town. My smile went
genuinely wide. “I’m visiting.”

“Oh, good. Business? Pleasure?”

The vacation part of our trip was starting
to bust, but that was still part of the reason why I was here. “A
little bit of both actually. I’m here with my fiancé.”

My eyes went to him and hers followed. Her
eyes lit up. “Oh. He Korean?”

I nodded.

She clapped her hands like I just granted
her a wish. “So you be local soon then? Congratulations on
engagement. I welcome you to Seoul.”

My lips parted. Why would she assume just
because Drake was Korean that he was from here? “He’s actually
Korean American. We’re both from America.”

Her face fell into that familiar confusion
that we’d been getting all day, and it was like awareness clicked
for me. They all believed since Drake looked like them that he was
one of them. Then the minute he’d speak, they knew there was
something different. This place was his home, but then again it
wasn’t. That was when I realized something. Through Drake’s
adoption, he’d been disconnected from Korea, and because of that,
he was separated from his culture.

Chapter Six

“Are you going to record?” Drake asked,
referring to the camera resting on my lap.

We sat in the backseat of Jason’s car he
loaned to us for the duration of our trip, Han at the wheel.

I simply stared at the closed camera lying
on the skirt of my black dress. I didn’t feel up to recording
anything after this afternoon. It just wasn’t fair how people were
treating Drake. He did nothing wrong but be born. He didn’t have a
choice that he was adopted. That he was taken. I wanted acceptance
for him. I wanted him to have something that I took for granted
everyday. It pained me that I had. I felt incredibly selfish and
terribly heartbroken for him.

I took his hand, rubbing with my thumb. Did
he know that this separation from his culture existed? He had to.
He wasn’t naïve. “I just don’t know if I should. After this
afternoon… How people were treating you…”

I edged a look his way. He was staring down,
studying the connection of our hands. His large and mine small. His
rough and mine soft. His light and mine dark.

He kissed it, brushing the back of my hand
with his lips. “We said we’d record everything. Today was
unfortunately part of it.”

So he did know. I sighed. “It’s just not
fair. People shouldn’t treat you differently. It’s not your fault
you were adopted. It makes me so mad. I wish you didn’t have to go
through this. That I could somehow fix this for you.”

He brought me in close under his arm,
comforting me when I should be doing that for him. “You can’t fix
it, but maybe you can help.”

I looked up at him. “How?”

He bit his lip, thinking over his question.
“Your dad is white. Your mom black. Did people treat you
differently because of… well, what you are? Straddling a line of
two worlds?”

His voice was so vulnerable in that moment,
so thin and fragile. He was right. In a way, I could help him. I
had to.

Before I began, Drake reached over to my
lap. He opened the camera and pressed record.

♥ ♥ ♥

I finished right as Han pulled us up to the
restaurant we were supposed to meet Jason at. Before we got out,
Drake kissed my forehead and I held him so close in return. The
struggles I had growing up, being biracial, were very different
from what he was dealing with now. But I think, through my words,
he felt a small bridge between our experiences, and because of
that, I never felt so connected to him. We were closer than we’d
ever been before, more intertwined in every way. I was so ready to
marry this man. I couldn’t wait to be his forever.