“Hi,” she said back. “Sorry about the mix-up this morning. I don’t know why Halmoni would bother you on a Sunday to take her when I already planned to.”
“No worries. We were already planning on going, so it’s noinconvenience.” He spoke with authority and confidence and warmth. He seemed so much older than she’d remembered.
“I can’t get over how much you’ve grown.”
Tae cocked his head and furrowed his brow, as a confused but amused smile spread across his face.
Something about this whole conversation felt... familiar. Did he feel that too?
“I was so sorry to hear when your dad got sick again. But my mom tells me he’s in remission and doing well? It’s so good to hear,” Julia said.
“We got your flowers and the amazing gift basket. That was really thoughtful. But yeah, he’s doing okay. Pretty proud to call himself a two-time cancer survivor. Not gonna lie, though. I’d be happy if he left it at that and lived the rest of his life healthy.”
Julia listened and nodded. She wondered what it took to survive cancer not just once but twice. She looked back at her grandmother talking animatedly with Mrs. Kim. She’s a fighter. She’d survive whatever it was she was facing. Right?
Julia needed to get on the phone tomorrow with the doctor’s office and see if they could get the follow-up appointment scheduled sooner rather than later. All this waiting around and not knowing was rough.
“Is there really something at the herb shop that works on cancer?” Julia wondered out loud.
Tae shook his head. “Pain management and just general health. My mom swears by some of the concoctions the herbalist puts together. I just think whatever keeps them positive and hopeful when they’re sick is worth it.”
Julia didn’t expect the lump forming in her throat. She would need to brace herself for whatever came their way. And try to stay as positive as Tae. “That’s a great way to look at it,” she said.
She liked him. She made a note to herself to make sure to be better at keeping in touch this time.
The dark, dingy little store tucked away in the corner of a run-down strip mall surprised Julia. “Are you sure everything they sell here is legal?” she whispered under her breath.
She not only heard the deep chuckle from behind her as she walked through the front door... she felt it.
“Hello, my friend. Welcome, good to see you,” the tiny old man said as soon as he saw Julia’s grandmother.
“No time for chitchat, Mr. Choi. We’re in a hurry and need a lot of things.” Halmoni passed over a wrinkled piece of scrap paper with Hangul characters scribbled haphazardly all over every inch. “I’ll need all of this,” she instructed.
“And I’ll need this.” Tae’s mom passed over her own list, hers much neater and seemingly more organized.
“Yes, yes, I’ll get on this,” the old herbalist said.
“What are you getting?” Julia asked her grandmother.
“Just some usual ingredients. And a few new ones to try.”
Her grandmother, once a famous herbalist herself back in Korea, still dabbled in medicinal recipes apparently. Growing up, Julia would listen to her stories about how she’d healed many illnesses by coming up with just the right concoction to help people. Julia often wondered how much regret was buried down deep in her grandmother’s heart having given it all up to marry her grandfather.
Julia walked around the small store, peeking at jars filled with dried and preserved plant life. She gently dragged her fingers across the small drawers of the apothecary cabinets against the walls. The place reminded her a little of their storage shed where Halmoni stored a lot of her things. Julia remembered as a child spending time with her grandmother, grasping the bronze drawer pulls, wondering what treasures each of them held. It was also the inspiration for some of the design of Julia’s own office where she displayed Starlight’s current product line in a refurbished Korean yakchang, or medicine cabinet, over a hundred years old.
“Mom, stop, you’re gonna hurt yourself. Let me,” Tae said as he reached up to grab his mother something from one of the top shelves. Julia watched as Tae’s shirt rose along with his outstretched arm, revealing a smooth strip of skin and a V-line groove over his hips leading down into the waistband of his jeans.
“Your mouth is open. Are you a mouth breather? If you’re having trouble with your sinuses, magnolia flower will help with that,” the herbalist said to Julia.
Julia quickly snapped her mouth shut.
“Do you need anything else from up here?” Tae asked. Julia hadn’t met anyone who seemed as in tune with even the smallest needs of others around him, especially his mother, as Tae.
Julia felt exasperated by her parents and grandmother at times. But she understood to her core what it felt like to want and need and have the pressure on you to look after them. She did so more in a financial sense, while Tae seemed to do it with his physical presence.
“Mr. Choi, also add some poria mushrooms, chrysanthemum, and ginseng from the southern regions.”
“That combination will make a strong base. Use it in moderation.”
