“The man that is perfect for you.”
Julia dropped her head and groaned. Thirty years of bad dates punctuated by two terrible, failed setups. Julia was at her wit’s end. “Mother, listen to me. There is no such thing as The One. There is no man perfect for me. I’ll be lucky to find Good Enough.”
Julia turned to see the corners of her mother’s mouth turned down. All the light in her eyes, just seconds ago, vanished.
Damn it. Julia let out a sigh. “But maybe this guy is different...”
“Oh Julia, he is, he is. He’s...” Her mother took a deep breath in, clasping her hands at her heart. Julia knew exactly the next words that would come out of her mouth. These were the only ones that could cause this much hope, delight, euphoria.
“He’s a doctor.”
Bingo.
“Who’s a doctor? Is he any good?” Tae walked up looking none the worse for wear after his meeting with Julia’s grandmother. “I’ve been having some muscle aches in my back...” Tae put his hand to his lower back dramatically and bent a little bit. He glanced up at Julia and winked. He was here to rescue her. God bless him.
“Really? Oh, Taehyung-ah. Sit here. Let me go get a Salonpas patch. Take your shirt off.”
“Mom.”
“Oh, thank you, but please don’t fret. I think a hot shower tonight will help,” Tae said.
Julia looked over at Tae and tried to push the thoughts of him in a hot shower out of her mind. She was failing.
“Mom, can I call Appa and Halmoni for dinner?” she said, quickly changing topics.
They all sat down to dinner, and Julia reached into the many dishes to fill her plate. Her mom watched her in awe.
“What? I’m trying more Korean food lately. Tae helped me figure out some stuff to taste, and I like it.”
“But, Julia, that’s spinach,” her mom pointed out, brows raised, mouth dropped.
“I know, it’s a miracle. Go figure.” Julia shrugged. “Dad, can you turn up the volume on the TV? Tae, look, it’s SEVENTEEN.”
The television was always on in Julia’s parents’ house and always playing some kind of Korean programming. Julia just never paid attention. Now, surprisingly, she found herself recognizing things on the screen.
“That’s a Korean music group, Julia. I don’t think you know them,” her dad said.
“Oh, Julia is a big fan of Korean music now. Julia, sing them that trot song you love so much,” Tae said, eyes dancing at Julia. She narrowed hers back at him. But she had no shame in this game.
“Oh yes, it goes like this.Jin jin jin jin jin e-ya...” she sang. Suddenly, her mom, dad, and grandmother all joined in, filling in the lyrics Julia didn’t know. Tae jumped in as well, all of them singing and shimmying at the dinner table, laughing.
“Oh, this is so fun. Thanks for teaching our Julia so many wonderful Korean things, Tae,” her mom said.
“It’s good to try new things. Food, music, or even people you might never have considered you might come to really like, maybe even love. What was once something you barely noticed may become your very favorite,” Halmoni said.
Julia looked over to her grandmother. Sage words. And true. Julia never would have known how tasty eggplant could be if Tae hadn’t encouraged her to try it.
Her grandmother met Julia’s eyes with a steely gaze, held them as if trying to convey a very important message, and then broke the connection. Julia watched as her grandmother’s eyes scanned the table and landed on Tae with the same laser focus.
“What’s most important is that you have fun and feel good about yourself,” her grandma said, still staring at Tae. That was odd.
“So, Julia, as I was telling you, we found The One. Joshua. Joshua Park. Dr. Joshua Park,” her mom explained.
Well, there went Julia’s appetite.
“He’s a famous surgeon in Korea. He’s still very young, though. He went to Yonsei University.”
“You are not flying a man to California from Korea to go on a date with me,” Julia insisted.
