TDIMEH Chapter 02

  

2. I Am Not Korean.

"Let’s see, is Terminal 1 in this direction?"

Se-ah craned her neck to check the signs outside the car window and gently pressed on the brake pedal. As the car slowed down, the blurry scenery outside became clearer. 

In the distance, a sign with the number '1' came into view.

It had been a while since she last got behind the wheel, so even with the navigation system guiding her, she got lost and circled around the airport twice. 

With four terminals, including some recently constructed, staying alert was crucial to avoid veering off course even within the airport.

Fortunately, this time she found the correct way. The short-term parking lot was right in front of the terminal, so parking was quick. After parking her car slightly crooked in an empty spot, Se-ah grabbed the placard her boss had written and hurried toward the arrival gate.

Looking at the clock on the wall, she realized it had already been 20 minutes since the plane landed. It was about time for passengers to start coming out. The arrival gate, fenced off with metal barriers, was crowded with people holding placards, just like her.

“Excuse me.”

Squeezing through the crowd, Se-ah maneuvered her way to a better spot, recalling her boss’s repeated mention of the 'very important guests.' She twisted and turned her body to secure a good position. 

She wasn’t sure why the guests had come, but since their visit meant she could resolve her own issues, she felt a certain warmth toward them—even without meeting them yet.

[Welcome, Mr. Jo Jisang and Ms. Moon Sohee!]

Holding the placard high for visibility, Se-ah tilted her head at the strange sense of déjà vu she felt. Those names seemed oddly familiar…

"Moon Sohee..."

Muttering the name to herself made it roll even more smoothly off her tongue. Somehow, 'Sohee' sounded like the name of a soap opera heroine, the type who might appear with a dramatic beauty mark or steal someone else's husband. But Se-ah neither had a husband to be stolen nor a grudge to avenge, so she decided to ignore the lingering sense of familiarity. 

Seeing a man’s and a woman’s names written together, she assumed they might be honeymooners and dismissed her thoughts as insignificant.

Just then, the gate opened, and people started streaming out. It was more important to find the people she was meeting. 

Since they were 'important guests,' they had likely flown first or business class and would exit quickly. Se-ah focused on the group walking at the front.

Behind five men pushing carts loaded with large golf bags, a slim, glamorous woman wearing a wide-brimmed hat and sunglasses walked alongside a man who had an air of roughness about him.

Seeing the two chatting animatedly, Se-ah felt confident they were Jo Jisang and Moon Sohee. The boss had called them VIPs, and they certainly exuded wealth and sophistication. Just like she used to.

As a human being, Se-ah couldn’t help but feel a pang in her chest as memories of her past surfaced. 

She missed the days when she could travel carefree, laughing and enjoying herself without a worry.

But work was work, and brushing off her melancholy, Se-ah enthusiastically waved the placard. The two, deeply engrossed in their lively conversation, still hadn’t noticed her.

Behind the two people approaching, a man who was a head taller than the others suddenly appeared. Amid the swaying placards, a familiar scent—the unmistakable aura of her ex-husband—wafted toward her.

“.......…!”

Focused on the two people in front, Se-ah noticed him belatedly and froze in place as if turned to stone. 

Her arms, which had been vigorously waving the placard high for visibility, came to an abrupt stop in midair. Her throat, ready to call out, clammed up entirely.

Just moments ago, the weather had been suffocatingly hot, but now it felt as though she was standing in the Siberian tundra in nothing but a thin undergarment, a chilling sensation running down her spine.

Who… is that…?

Se-ah wanted to deny her own eyes, but she knew all too well that there weren’t many people who could light up an airport like they were walking down a runway.

Past or present, who else but her ex-husband, Do Junhyuk, could possess such maddeningly good looks that could make him a world-class export under the name 'Kim'? His perfectly groomed hair looked as though he had just stepped out of a salon rather than a long flight. Even in Manila’s sticky heat, he was impeccably dressed in a jacket.

Her face turned as pale as the placard she was holding.

Do Junhyuk… why on earth are you here?

The question nearly escaped her lips, but she managed to swallow it down, hurriedly ducking her head and hiding behind the placard. 

Though she had done nothing wrong to him, the memory of her confident exit from his life three years ago made her current shabby appearance feel like a collapse of the last shreds of self-esteem she had left.

It was as though her pride, already as empty as a bank account with zero balance, had somehow borrowed just enough to crumble all over again.

The overwhelming embarrassment stemmed from how much she had tried to maintain a facade of having it all together in front of him. 

Her short, self-cut bob, a stark contrast to her once lavishly styled wavy hair, seemed particularly unkempt today. 

Her face, previously always fully made up, now bore only the bare essentials: some lotion, sunscreen, and nothing more.

Her once-fashionable wardrobe was reduced to an outdated shirt, and her neglected hands told a tale of struggle. Se-ah’s gaze lowered further and further as she realized how clearly her disheveled state spoke of her less-than-perfect life.

Not that it mattered—he wasn’t someone she had to take care of anymore. But still, she had to eliminate any chance of being noticed. Se-ah handed her placard to a complete stranger next to her and quickly dug a mask out of her pocket.

She also grabbed her boss’s oversized sunglasses, which had been stuffed into her front pocket after the drive, and perched them on her nose. 

Only after covering most of her face with the sunglasses and mask did her wildly racing heart begin to calm. Shielded behind her makeshift disguise, she felt as secure as a fortress.

While she wrestled with her panic, the two people in front must have spotted the placard. They approached Se-ah directly.

‘Yes, come this way. Don’t look back and just head straight to the car.’

As though trying to hypnotize them, Se-ah muttered to herself. But what was inexplicable was why Do Junhyuk, as if hypnotized himself, was walking toward her.

Still, she convinced herself otherwise, darting her eyes around in doubt. But then, as if to confirm her worst fears, the woman next to him turned to look at him and spoke.

“Junhyuk, I think the person picking us up is here.”

Inside her mask, Se-ah’s lips trembled uncontrollably.

"Why did you have to write my name next to hers? Just writing hers would’ve been fine," 

Complained the rough-looking man, his irritation raw and unfiltered. But Se-ah barely registered his words. Her eyes and ears were entirely fixated on Junhyuk.

"But she doesn’t look like a driver," 

The woman muttered suspiciously, tilting her sunglasses.

"The person who was supposed to come must’ve canceled last minute. That’s just how things are here. Remember last time we had to wait for 30 minutes too?" 

The talkative man answered for her.

"True. I heard private drivers, not from hotels, are often like this," 

"Well, at least they weren’t late," 

Listening to their exchange, Se-ah briefly considered running away with the placard in hand. But her boss's voice, echoing in her mind about how important these guests were, stopped her from acting on impulse.

In the end, she bowed politely to them and gestured for them to follow her. 

With her mask and sunglasses covering most of her face, there was a high chance they wouldn’t recognize her in her bare-faced state. Her plan was simple: drop them off quickly and disappear.

Moreover, if her boss approved, she would be heading south tomorrow, leaving no chance of running into Junhyuk in Manila again.

"But why is she covering her face in a hot country like this?" 

The man behind her suddenly wondered aloud, his attention turning toward Se-ah.

Sweat formed on her clear forehead as his curiosity lingered on her. In her haste, she didn’t notice a stray piece of luggage on the ground and tripped over it.

"Goodness!"

She managed to regain her balance, but her clear Korean exclamation had already slipped out. 

She quickly covered her mouth with her palm over the mask, but it was too late. The man, now beside her, looked intrigued.

"So, you’re Korean? Why didn’t you greet us properly? And why are you wearing a mask in this heat?"

What is this guy? A curiosity assassin or something?

If she said anything, Junhyuk might recognize her voice. Struggling to think, she decided to feign ignorance and answered in English.

"[I am not Korean. I don’t know Korean well.]"

"That doesn’t seem right… You clearly said something like ‘goodness’ just now…,"

Oh great, a skeptic too.

"[I know a little. Like, ‘mom,’ ‘dad,’ and ‘boss,’]" 

She answered nonchalantly, still speaking in broken English. Without missing a beat, she quickened her steps toward the car.

When she glanced back, the man was tilting his head but didn’t seem overly suspicious anymore. 

Se-ah silently sighed in relief and opened the trunk, neatly loading their luggage. Unlike the other two, who casually handed over their bags, Junhyuk briefly glanced at her thin arm and chose to load his own luggage.

Well, at least he’s considerate.

After shutting the trunk and ensuring there was no remaining luggage, Se-ah prepared to get into the car, only to be startled by the sight before her. 

Junhyuk was already sitting in the front passenger seat.

Frozen mid-motion, one hand gripping the car door handle, she stared at him in disbelief. Junhyuk tilted his head slightly and asked, with a calm yet direct tone:

“What are you doing? Get in the car.”

🌼; In this context, 'Kim' is likely a reference to a stereotypical or symbolic Korean identity. The name "Kim" is one of the most common and recognizable Korean surnames globally. By saying he "could make him a world-class export under the name 'Kim'," the text is probably playing on the idea that his looks and style are quintessentially "Korean" — polished, fashionable, and globally appealing — similar to how K-pop idols, K-dramas, and other Korean cultural exports are perceived internationally.

This phrase may also hint at the 'export' of Korean pop culture, where people associated with the 'Korean wave' (Hallyu) are often seen as idealized figures of beauty and sophistication. So, in short, 'Kim' symbolizes an archetype of the modern, globally attractive Korean man.

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