2. Catch The Dream Up

Forget all bad memories and focus on catching your dreams up!

***

A man with his body’s about six feet in height was waiting for Qeiza at the exit gate. His skin was fair. He exposed his melting smile when he saw Qeiza walked out of the gate while pulling her trolley.

The man ran fast to welcome the one he’d been waiting for. One of his hands quickly took over Qeiza’s trolley.

“I’m so glad that you finally decided to join me, Ae Ri,” he said. His face was brighter with a nice smile that was continuously shaped on his lips.

Qeiza paid all her attention to the man who’s walking beside her through the glance of the corners of her eyes. The man was wearing a casual outfit, a pair of gray trousers and white shirt made of a soft fabric. He folded his long sleeves to the elbows, exposing his muscular muscles.

Qeiza had never expected that she would be that lucky. Having a brother named Dae Hyun. Dae Hyun’s good-looking face always reminded her of a Korean famous actor, Park Bo Gum.

“You’re taking a day off on purpose just to pick me up, Oppa?” asked Qeiza.

“You’re right,” answered Dae Hyun. “I won’t let my sister as lovely as Nam Gyu Ri get lost in a foreign country.”

“I’m not that stupid, Oppa!” Qeiza grumbled. “Did you forget that I’ve just left this country for a few months?”

Qeiza went back to South Korea and took a flight to Indonesia just in order to complete the divorce proceedings with Ansel. After the divorce pledge hearing, she immediately flew back to South Korea then continued her journey to meet Dae Hyun as she promised him.

Dae Hyun stroked gently Qeiza’s head that’s covered by a hijab. “The world always changes from time to time, even every second,” Dae Hyun commented.

“Really? Does this town change in such a short time?”

“You’ll see that later,” said Dae Hyun. “I’m sure you’ll be dumbfounded.”

“Mm, I can’t wait for it,” Qeiza said. “I miss my study room.”

Qeiza gave Dae Hyun a suspicious look. “You didn’t throw all my stuffs away, did you?”

“Hahaha ….”

Dae Hyun just responded to Qeiza’s question with a loud laughter. How could he get rid of Qeiza’s personal stuffs? He took care of everything belonged to Qeiza painstakingly as he loved Qeiza wholeheartedly.

***

“Mm … the smell is so nice,” Qeiza commented.

Dae Hyun served her some waffles, fresh from the waffle maker. White thin smoke that greeted with the gust of wind immediately caused the delicious aroma to waft up, crashing Qeiza’s nasal nerves.

“I haven’t got used to cook this kind of food yet,” admitted Dae Hyun. “But, I hope it won’t taste bad.”

Qeiza immediately stuffed her mouth with a slice of waffle that had been smothered in honey.

“Mm … this is very delicious, Oppa!” Qeiza praised. “You’ve the talent to be a baker.”

Qeiza’s compliment successfully pulled wide both corners of Dae Hyun’s lips to form a very charming smile.

Qeiza was stunned for a moment. 'Oh My God! If only he’s not my brother,' she said by heart.

“Why?” asked Dae Hyun. “Is the sauce smudging around my mouth?”

Dae Hyun felt a bit nervous being stared by Qeiza. He knew they were brother and sister who were not really blood related.

Qeiza shook her head. “No. It isn’t,” she replied. “I just felt like I was having breakfast with Park Bo Gum.”

“Tsk! Is every woman so crazy about the actor of that drama Encounter?”

Dae Hyun clicked. He often heard many women compared him to that popular actor.

“Do you think I should change my profession to be an actor too?” he joked, still showing a melting smile which could make a woman’s heart fluttered.

“No. No way!” Qeiza quickly expressed her disagreement.

“Why? Isn’t my face good-looking enough to enter that field of work?”

“No means no,” stressed Qeiza. “I won’t be able to meet you whenever I want to, especially being able to have breakfast together this early.”

“Hahaha ….”

Dae Hyun burst into laughter. He didn’t understand why Qeiza always could make his day so shiny and colourful like a rainbow. It’s really a good decision for his parents to adopt Qeiza as their daughter although he objected her a bit at first.

“I’m so sorry, Ae Ri,” Dae Hyun said in a soft voice after a second later.

“Huh? Sorry? What’s for?” Qeiza didn’t catch the point why Dae Hyun apologized to her all of a sudden.

“That’s for all my bad behaviors at the beginning of your presence in my family.” Dae Hyun looked at Qeiza intensely.

“I knew. I was too childish at that time and might be a bit petty too.”

“Qeiza showed a bright smile through her eyes. “You don’t need to apologize,” she answered.

“Don’t you have a grudge?” asked Dae Hyun. It’s hard to believe that she didn’t harbour a grudge against him.

Qeiza shook her head. “I was very grateful, Oppa,” said Qeiza. “Since I was a child, I didn’t have anyone then suddenly had parents and an amazing elder brother.”

Qeiza looked warmly at Dae Hyun’s face. “That’s the most beautiful gift that The God gave me.”

All at once Dae Hyun felt agitated inside of his heart. A bit of regret stabbed his inner peace. He was really sorry that he had ever rejected her presence in his family.

Because of that rejection, the frequency of his return to South Korea increased rapidly. Almost every season he visited his parents. Not because he was less busy and had so much spare time nor he wanted to show his deep devotion to his parents, but because he was too worried that the adopted strange girl would cause some troubles and only took benefits from his parents’ wealth.

At the beginning, he ignored her even if he also didn’t dare to reveal his dislike straightforwardly, mostly in front of his parents. Yet, after several meetings, his heart was touched by Qeiza’s sincerity and innocence so that he fully considered and treated Qeiza as his younger sibling.

“I don’t think so, Ae Ri. You’re the best gift that God has sent to my family,” Dae Hyun argued. “Then, don’t get mad if I’ll fully keep my close eyes on you. I, mainly my parents, don’t want something bad will happen to you.”

Abruptly, Qeiza’s heart was filled with warmth. When she was a child, she spent her life time living in an orphanage. She just found out that she still had an uncle when he suddenly called and forced her to marry Ansel because he didn’t have any daughters. It wasn’t fair, was it?

The worst, the man who claimed himself as her father’s younger brother had also never contacted her since her wedding day, four years ago. What kind of uncle was he?

God had never slept. The luck could come at any time in unpredictable ways. All you needed to do was to fetch that fortune by doing good things steadily in every season all the years.

Qeiza was so grateful. Her good fortune to get a scholarship to South Korea also brought her a new family.

***

Time passed by like an arrow sliding off its bow. It kept racing until it’s time for it to stop at the face target where it should have stuck.

Qeiza turned her sling bag back. Walking out of her apartment, she hurriedly rode her bike to a well-known fashion company. That day, she’s going to attend her first job interview after being satisfied enjoying her free days to calm herself down, forgetting the dark shadows of her past while waiting for Adnan to send her divorce certificate.

Her apartment wasn’t so far from the company where she applied for the job. Therefore, it didn’t take a long time for her to arrive there.

Qeiza parked her bike on a certain area which was specified for the employees. She took a few seconds to tidy up the position of her sling bag and hijab while finding an opportunity to look at her face reflection in the outside rear-vision mirror in an inconspicuous way.

Qeiza deeply breathed out after recording the appearance of the skyscraper in front of her in her brain’s memory.

By saying in the name of God, she walked in and went straight to the room where she would have an interview after getting the information from the receptionist.

“Kim Ae Ri!” A young man called her from the front door of the interview room.

“I am.” Qeiza stood up from her seat right away. She followed the young man into the room.

After being welcomed, Qeiza sat face to face with the interviewer, a man in his late thirties.

He read all details of the CV that's attached by Qeiza in her application letter.

“You don’t have any experiences, do you?” The man asked, giving Qeiza a slightly disdainful look.

“Not yet,” answered Qeiza, admitting the truth.

The man sighed. “That’s too bad, Miss!” he said. “Your academic achievement was great, but our company needs experienced designers, not a fresh graduate.”

All of a sudden, Qeiza regretted because she'd rejected Dae Hyun’s offer to work at his company. Qeiza thought she wanted to pursue a career from the scratch on her own efforts without Dae Hyun’s recommendation or interference.

 “Wait!” Someone interrupted unexpectedly.

***