"...the gods tie .. the pinky fingers of those who find each other in life. Legend has it that the two-people connected by this thread will have an important story, regardless of the time, place or circumstances. The red string might get tangled, contracted or stretched, as surely often happens, but it can never break." The Legend of the Red Thread.
Hae Jin stood in line by the counter of the airport café waiting to pay for her water bottle. Her hands gripped the chilly bottle a little too tightly to calm her nerves. That morning Jun had sent a company car from Nabi enterprises to pick her up from her apartment. Her luggage was already checked in and on its way to Osaka, Japan. She heard announcements over the speakers for flights arriving and leaving.
Jun had traveled ahead of her and spent the whole week already in Osaka, negotiating a contract at the exchange.
Today was already Friday, he had asked her to join him over a long 4-day weekend for a quiet getaway. They would be staying at a hot spring inn south of Osaka and spending some time over the weekend sightseeing.
She looked around trying to spot Jeong Ahn and Ju Hee. They had said they would meet her at the café.
She looked at her cellphone and checked her messages. They were late.
She heard an incoming text, as she took a sip of her water. It was from Jeong Ahn, and read,
"Meet me by the Korean Air main entrance. I've been delayed." After reading it she headed for their meeting gate.
She heard the commotion before she saw it. Loud excited voices, and then as she turned a corner arriving at the entrance she saw it.
Fans surrounded Jeong Ahn. His tall frame stood in the middle as he signed autographs and posed for pictures.
He saw her approaching and smiled apologetically at her.
Fan girls, ahjumma's and an odd assortment of older and younger men and women turned to pin their eyes on her. Feeling self conscious she suddenly wished she had a pair of those sunglasses celebrities wore.
Behind Jeong Ahn and his fans stood his manager and Ju Hee next to him.
Ju Hee, seeing her smiled. Hae Jin smiled back at her and approached her.
Jeong Ahn had a scheduled concert, over the weekend, in Osaka.
He had spoken to his manager to arrange everything for a business/pleasure getaway weekend, so they could travel together.
"I wasn't expecting this." Go Hae Jin said to Ju Hee as she approached her .
Ju Hee said to Hae Jin,"As a musician with two solo albums out, his fan base isn't huge, but he does have determined followers. Jeong Ahn plays mainly ballads, and traditional Korean songs. He prefers playing traditional and classical instruments. His concerts tend to be small and personable.
Oftentimes he plays at universities for students and professors of classical Korean music." Then, she had added, "I try to stay out of it, and stay in the fans good graces. Loving Jeong Ahn means accepting his music and lifestyle too. I'm just grateful he isn't a well-known idol. His hectic traveling schedule is already stressful at times." She said.
As the flight attendant came to check on them, Jeong Ahn said to her, "Best thing about first class…. even this early in the morning. It's okay to order wine." Then he pushed his seat back and prepared to nap.
That afternoon they arrived at the hot springs in Kawayu Onsen the town was south of Osaka and was surrounded by trees: cedars, maples and cypress. The natural setting offered a tranquil and peaceful setting . They had checked into their rooms and she now sat in her room overlooking the garden.
The pamphlet she had picked up at the airport said this time April/May was when visitors came to see the cherry blossoms.
The area was also renowned for it's shrines. The shrine of Hongu was only 7 kilometers from the inn they stayed in.
Dinner had been simply served food with what tasted like homecooking. They had all eaten too much.
After dinner they sat soaking in the hot springs. Hae Jin sat next to Ju Hee a small wall separated the men's hot spring.
Ju and Ahn soaked on the other side of the partition wall. Hae Jin and Ju Hee could over hear their conversation in the lady's hot spring. A bamboo tray floated between them holding a bottle of sake and cups. A small waterfall filled the space with the sounds of running water.
"How did the meeting go Hyung?" Jeong Ahn asked.
"As well as can be expected. We managed to trade…. The biggest meeting happened on Wednesday and we put in our bid. The competing bid was aggressive and very competitive. They really are looking to win over this contract." Then Jun added,
"Hopefully we can earn favor so we will be hosting a cultural event tomorrow night on traditional music entitled The voices of the people thru Asian cultures. Your performance tomorrow night Ahn will hopefully make our offer more attractive adding the cultural component. Some of the companies we are bidding against are not Asian. We hope this will serve as a subtle reminder of the importance of dealing with like-minded partners. Our CEO will attend as well as several critical VIP''s." Jun finished, then they heard heavy splashing.
"Enough about work Ahn. What about you? I heard you and Ju Hee won't be heading to the altar soon." Jun said, they could hear them splashing water at each other.
"You know Hyung what's wrong with all play and no responsibilities, marriage means lots of work too Let's play, and play some more….and you know you can never have enough of that." Jeon Ahn said nonchalantly,
Then he added in a loud voice," My heart keeps breaking. She keeps turning me down. If I didn't love my Ju Hee as much as I do… Even the fans follow me to the airport. She tells me she doesn't want to be on their bad side as the girlfriend that stole their star away from them, but I say to them love me, love my Ju Hee." Those were his last words as Ju pushed his head under the water. He came up for air spluttering.
"I can hear that Ahn!" Ju Hee yelled at him. Her voice sounded angry but Hae Jin could see a big grin as she winked at Hae Jin pouring them both one more cup of sake.
The next morning, they all boarded a tour bus to visit Hongu shrine. A cheerful lady served as their tour guide. She stood at the front of the bus speaking to them through her microphone about the sites they would visit over the weekend. The lady translated from Japanese into Korean for all the tourists on the bus.
"Tomorrow we will board a boat through the Kumano-gawa river where we will arrive at the Hayatama grand shrine. Along the way we can admire the rock formations along the valley walls. At Hayatama there is a massive Asian bayberry tree believed to be eight centuries old. Placing one of its oval leaves in your wallet is said to ensure you will never run short of money."
Hae Jin sat next to Ju Hee for the first leg of the trip.
"I'm surprised Ju agreed to go on a tour bus instead of driving."
Hae Jin said to her.
"It was Ahn's manager who arranged this tour. Ahn thought it would let everyone enjoy the trip so no one needed to focus on the road." Ju Hee added.
The tour guide continued to speak. She now spoke about the myths and legends of Japan, her words suddenly captured Hae Jin's attention. She read an excerpt from a book that explained the legend of the red string.
"… human relations are predestined by a red string that the gods tie to the pinky fingers of those who find each other in life. Legend has it that the two-people connected by this thread will have an important story, regardless of the time, place or circumstances. The red string might get tangled, contracted or stretched, as surely often happens, but it can never break.
The myth of the red string is a way to understand our itinerary of encounters as a predetermined plot where couples' relationships, the intimate brushes against someone, and all the little stories we crisscross with others are neither random triumphs nor accidents, but part of a scarlet tapestry whose threads were given to us when we were born but which we knit ourselves."
As the lady continued speaking Hae Jin was silent, mesmerized by the legend.
It explained so much of the questions that constantly plagued her. It was as if in listening to this legend maybe the encounters in her life could make some sense after all.
She wondered if Jun and her had such a string tied to each other.
Had the encounters in her life truly been part of a scarlet tapestry as was mentioned in the legend?
Was her story part of a predestined and perfect path, with a scarlet string attached connecting her to all the destinations in her life?
Could all those encounters not be accidents but designs in her journey?
As she sat pondering the ramifications a sense of peace fell over her. She was suddenly very glad she had signed up for this trip.
Late in the afternoon they finished their visit to the shrine, as rain started to fall. They had heard from the tour guide that rain and weather patterns could be unpredictable in this region.
They headed back to the tour bus taking their seats.
Everyone felt tired after a long day exploring the shrine grounds.
As they headed down the mountain pass the swerving bus made her drowsy and she lay her head on Jun's shoulder.
The bus turned down the narrow pass as rain continued to pour.
A speeding sports car suddenly swerved from behind the bus, passing on its right.
The bus driver managed to avoid the vehicle seconds before a mudslide on the left side of the mountain side crumbled onto the vehicle. A river of mud descending on the mountain side pushed the vehicle and its driver towards the side cliff, precariously close to being thrown down the cliff side.
The bus driver managed to keep his steering wheel from spinning out of his control as the mud slide hit the front wheels of the bus.
The bus slid partly as most of the mud avoided the second half of the bus.
The vehicle stayed at a complete stop having partly slid into the middle of the street.
The sudden stop made Hae Jin wake up.
Screaming inside the bus stopped as the bus did too.
The driver stood from his seat. He managed to open the door to the bus asking the passengers to please exit calmly.
Hae Jin's heart was pounding as Jun held her hand urging her towards the front of the bus. "Hae Jin, let's go." He said to her.
It was dark outside as they exited the bus. Ahn and Ju Hee stood next to them.
Passengers stood around the bus dialing their cellphones. The four of them huddled together.
"We were extremely lucky to have only slid half way down the road, especially as we are so close to those cliffs." Ahn had said.
Turning to see the cliff, they spotted the sports car.
The bus driver had spoken with the police. Mud blocked the road up from the town.
He then addressed the passengers asking for their help to help the passenger inside the sports car.
The bus driver walked to the sport car. Jun and Ahn followed him helping the driver exit the vehicle.
The man driving the sports car had walked away from his car slowly with tentative steps heading towards Hae Jin and Ju Hee.
His hand had gone to his head as he stood just a few steps from them.
Then he looked at Hae Jin and reached his arm out towards her a moment before he collapsed.
Ju Hee and her tried to catch his fall.
Half of him had landed crushing Ju Hee as he lay on the ground.
Hae Jin had caught the top half of his body and his head now lay on her lap. She had stretched her hands out instinctively last minute as she tried to catch it before it hit concrete.
He opened his eyes. She recognized those eyes.
It was 3rd. Prince, Prince Yo.
