12

ludic

(full of fun and high spirits)

5th July, 2019

THE concoction of smell made by the ignited incense stick, kept on the top of a cupboard and the strong perfume of the girl standing infront of Ju Ho, was making him feel nauseated. He held his breath forcefully while scribbling on his notebook.

The incense stick had turned out to be another bad investment because it didn't suit his taste. He was hoping to hear compliments about adding such an unique feature but instead people were asking him whether he was into Buddhism. He had been foolish enough to not be far-sighted while spending a great deal of money on a dozen of such packets.

A couple of customers were waiting for Ju Ho to note down their orders infront of the counter. Ju Ho nodded aggressively as the first person in the line kept on adding different kinds of pastries she was craving to the list. From what he was seeing, the bill was going to a handsome one. After managing to make her stop, he repeated everything and let her know of the total cost.

The girl was almost knocked over after hearing about the bill. She kept mumbling about how she had lost track and wasn't expecting that much. To Ju Ho's horror, she made him re-do the entire list as she carefully planned on what to devour. The others behind her were upset about how she was wasting everyone's time and Ju Ho could almost hear profanities being whispered in low voices. He almost felt bad as the indecisive girl still seemed to struggle about it.

Ju Ho carefully extended his left arm to let the air settle on his palm. Seconds later, he rubbed the surface with his other hand and found that he was right. The wind quality was dropping and not everyone was happy. The filtration date was nearing.

He was bound to ask the girl if she was sure whether she had sufficient funds in her wallet to purchase such a great amount of food. He earned a shy nod and asked her to confirm her orders again. She was young and seemed pretty taken aback by the harsh reaction she was receiving from the people behind her.

Finishing it up finally, he showed her the way to the seats. It wasn't until her departure that Ju Ho got to relax his shoulders a bit. Through the corner of his eye, he spotted a female figure opening the door of his bakery.

Ye Bin was holding the knob of the door, her face radiating a warm smile. She waved at him from behind the queue. Ju Ho smiled back and signalled her to give him five minutes to deal with the pending orders.

She approved of his request and stood at the corner, tapping her left foot gently. This provided him an impetus to manage his crowd in a more efficient manner.

Ju Ho had been scrolling through the posts of Ye Bin's Instagram account recently. While admiring the intricate creations, he ended up realising that he had not really seen her artworks in person till date. A sense of sharp pride and admiration ran hotly in his veins as he took his time to observe all the work she had posted in the meantime. She was definitely not a hollow person.

Ye Bin had been performing pretty well. Her followers had increased a lot, if it had not skyrocketed. A beaming symbol of '672' followers count rested on the top of her profile.

She had not posted any picture of herself and had not even hinted her name in the username she had chosen. It was great that she had chosen to take a path where she was letting her talent do the talk and not her face. In the world of changing trends and practices, people prefered to see pretty faces over art. However, Ye Bin had managed to stand out somehow. One of her post had even got around a few thousand likes.

The way the world worked was still a mystery to Ju Ho. It let genuine people walk on eggshells. Then again, Jeju Islands had him. The man responsible for the wind filtration. Someone who was just another common human being doing some extraordinary mystical job.

It wasn't until the passage of the next fifteen minutes that he got to get out of the counter's chair.

"I'm sorry for keeping you standing." he apologized as he rubbed his freshly washed hands against the fabric of a towel.

"No, it's completely alright. You have a business to look after."

"What brings you here, madam?" Ju Ho enquired with a raised eyebrow, his lips still maintaining a curve.

"Can you just tell me what this message says? I'm not good at reading Korean. I have always been outside of Korea so -" Ye Bin handed him her phone.

"Of course." Ju Ho peered at the screen, the brightness of the phone illuminating his face.

Seeing that his lips was parting slightly as his eyes scanned through the message, Ye Bin could clearly feel her heart pound. Everything seemed like a bad omen to her since she got out of the hellhole of a place that was her former in-law's house.

"You finally got it, Ye Bin. You have earned a personal request. You just need to name your price." gasped Ju Ho as he finally looked up.

"I can name a price...What?" she passed him a quizzical glance. She looked so genuinely confused that Ju Ho couldn't help the grin that rubbed off the seriousness from his face.

"This person right here wants you to make him an artwork. He has sent you the details about his address and his requirements. He has also asked you to send him the payment information and is ready to pay upto hundred dollars. Congratulations."

"You're saying that this is the first request I got. Am I right?"

Ju Ho stared at her twinkling eyes before nodding. Ye Bin dropped on the floor immediately, her legs folded like a frog. Her body vibrated with shaky sobs as she thanked her luck.

The customers of his bakery passed them questioning glances, quite taken aback by a woman bawling her eyes out like that, on the cold tiles of the floor. Ju Ho waved his hands to dismiss assumptions and let them know that there was nothing serious going on.

"Ye Bin, I think you should get up now. The floor is damp." Ju Ho offered her his hand. Ye Bin took a deep breath and allowed him to help her get up, fresh tears still spilling out of her eyes.

"Do you need tissues?" Ju Ho pulled out a dozen from the packet kept on the counter without waiting for an answer and passed them to her.

Mumbling a quick appreciation for the thought, Ye Bin dabbed them on her face which was red and moistened. She seemed lost in her thoughts.

"Take your time. You can use the washroom if you want. Freshen up and then we can talk about how to reply to this man." Ju Ho pointed towards the washroom near them.

Nodding, she let her feet carry her to the washroom of the bakery. Icy chill water gushed out of the sink, flowing freely on the palms of her hands. A speciality of monsoon was the power of it to turn down the temperature of the normal washroom water. She splashed them gently on her face to loosen up.

Maybe, this was a new beginning. Maybe, she still had not lost her sparkle. A newfound confidence bubbled within her. She rubbed her cold hands against each other, muttering congratulatory sentences to herself.

If she started getting offers like that, she would never have to go to do part-time jobs. She had been sensible enough to not snitch to Ju Ho about how much her employers were cruel to her.

She looked at the mirror facing her. Slowly running down her hands on her shrinking face, she promised herself that she would surely not back off. This time, she was going to make the best out of this opportunity. Afterall, life was kind enough to offer her another chance.

When she walked out of the washroom, she locked eyes with Ju Ho who was pacing across the space of his shop. There were a couple of customers having a little feast across the room. They didn't seem to mind him and were engrossed in their conversation.

"Are you alright? Water?" he offered her a purple bottle. He already had it prepared before she came out.

"No, it's alright. Thank you, Ju Ho. It's all because of you. Thank you so much for suggesting this one and never giving up on me."

"I didn't do much." he was quick to deny his credit. "It's because of your talent. The man is from Britain. He's really impressed with your work and thought that it would easier to reach you if he used the Korean language."

"Did he mention any deadline?"

"No, he just wants to know about your opinion for now. Should I reply back for you? You should talk about how much you're expecting for a payment. He has also written what he needs to see in that artwork." suggested Ju Ho as he added the minute details and requirements.

"I can definitely accept this. I think I shouldn't charge much. The maximum he is offering is quite a lot for a struggling freelancer like me. It would be cheating him if I agree to it."

"That's not how you do business." Ju Ho was quick to point it out. "It's like saying that you are not worth that amount. Set a price that wouldn't cause inconvenience to the customer and also not under-value your work. You need to maintain a standard. Should I text him back for you in Korean?"

"No, I think I should reply in English myself. The man is from Britain, afterall. It would be easier to discuss that way. I would also ask for an advance payment.

"Well, I need to go and buy certain things for it. I need the canvas of the size mentioned and also new paint tubes. My large tube of white paint is all gone. Where can we get authentic stuff here?"

"I can definitely tag along," Ju Ho asserted. "It's just one day. Not even full actually."

"What about your shop? Aren't you going to face a huge loss?"

"My bakery isn't doing that great. Then again, I had a dozen of them till now. It's okay if I don't open for the rest of the day." he told her squarely.

"Doesn't sound right to me. You have tons of customers. I don't get your point."

"Occassionally. When this area gets to be a part of filming or is in the peak season of tourism, I get customers. Have you seen the weather? It's sunny one moment and then it's raining cats and dogs next. Very fickle natured, I must say." he tried to laugh it off.

"So you do nothing to get your bakery proper recognition or a boost? It deserves it." she confessed lightly.

"There are cafes, Ye Bin." Ju Ho shrugged.
"They offer beverages and features which the bakery owners don't offer. These days branches of famous have sprung up, causing the domestic. I have my fair share of loyal customers, I believe."

"You can always choose to change your game. Transforming into a cafe wouldn't be much of a problem, I believe. You can always hire a barista."

"I can, definitely. Maybe, I would soon." he drawled.

Ye Bin found herself staring at Ju Ho. He looked dejected. Maybe it was because of how much of a help he had been throughout the month that Ye Bin's attitude had softened. She still wasn't the best of friends with him but somewhere in her heart she knew that he was a great human being. It surely saddened her to see him struggling with his business.

"When are you leaving?" Ju Ho managed to change the subject back to her again.

"Ah," she drawled as she stared at the wall clock to determine the time. "Would it be okay if we set off after an hour? I'll quickly inform my workplaces that I would be resigning for this month."

"Sure," he approved. "Are you happy, Yoo Ye Bin? This is your era."

"Oh, don't make it sound so corny." she dismissed his words with the wave of her hand. "Get your job done by three. I'll be meeting you at the backyard."

As he watched her retreat from his shop, Ju Ho could almost see her scintillating, visually. There was an obvious outline of warm sunlight around her, in the backdrop of rather dull and plain surroundings. Then he knew why he was feeling so.

Only a few achieved something when the wind quality was in the process of dropping. The ones who had somehow managed to break the cycle of the wind. They were destined to take a strong hold of their lives and succeed. Ye Bin was definitely one of them and Han Ju Ho was sure of it.

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