Page 85 of You Had Me At Annyeong!
God, look at her. Such perfection!
Haneul spots her from outside the door and watches her for a few seconds as she licks with relish crumbs settled in the corners of her mouth. Sighing deeply, he calms his wildly beating heart and walks in.
‘Here, Daepyonim! Hi!’ Timira waves at him with a big smile.
‘I thought we’d decided to drop this “Daepyonim” business,’ Haneul says as he pulls out a chair at the small table and sits down.
‘What would you like? They have the best doughnuts! And, each one is ‘grammable. In only a short while, I’ve become a fan!’
I know. Everyone knows! It’s all over your SNS! God, she’s cute!
Thanks to Hanee’s incessant nagging, Timira has become more regular at managing her socials since moving to Seoul. She has even become friends with other Indians in Seoul, most of them graduate students moonlighting as influencers. All of them are crazy about Korea and its culture. Some had taken up jobs here, fallen in love and settled here even. Inspired by them and pushed by Honey, she has started sharing bits of her life on her SNS handles. And before long has raked up a decent number of followers, too!Emily in Paris Temu-version, Bhaskar teased her endlessly when she started off her new handle, GoriyaInKorea.
Not a coffee person, Haneul orders a cup of Rooibos tea for himself. And a balsamic strawberry shortcake doughnut that Timira recommends.
He is almost through with the tea when Timira starts to excitedly talk about an Indian restaurant in Itaewon that has just opened up and how they make jalebis and samosas exactly the way they are made in the north of India. She then chats about the weather, the Indian festival of Diwali that’s right around thecorner, and how she thinks she has perfected the art of cooking Indian food in the past month.
‘You must miss home, Timira.’
Timira, doughnut and coffee both over, has been drawing circles with the delicate coffee spoon on the empty saucer. She sighs and speaks the truth.
‘I do. Terribly so.’
This has always been Timira’s favourite time of year back home—the slight nip in the air, the festive air all around, smiling faces everywhere, the promise of winter, the delicious sun and the sky, the oh-so-beautiful, gorgeous, clear blue sky.
‘I hear they celebrate Diwali here in Seoul, too. There are parties, I’m told. Would you like to go to one?’
Would you like me to take you to one? Would you like to celebrate with me?
Diwali is Timira’s favourite Indian festival and she had been very upset to be missing out on this year’s festivities. To cheer her up, her mother had taken her shopping and bought her a gorgeous georgette saree in purple with zari threadwork and crystal embellishments. Timira had dutifully packed it in, but was pretty sure she wasn’t going to get a chance to drape it in Korea. Her heart skips upon hearing about a Diwali party, but she currently has more pressing matters to deal with.
‘Haneul-ssi, sky, right? The meaning of your name is “sky”, am I right?’
Timira suddenly changes the topic. She now remembers that the hospital records in Bali had been signed as ‘Sky’. She still isn’t sure how she’s going to bring that up.
‘Er, yes. It is. Well, it’s technically heaven but yeah, sky, too. For all intents and purposes.’
‘My name means darkness.’
What? It couldn’t be more ill-suited. You are light. And all things bright. The light of my life.
Timira continues. ‘I’m dark, like night-time. And you are sky. Together, you and I are like the night sky then?’
Bamhaneul.
‘Bamhaneul.’ This time, Haneul says it out loud. ‘It’s the Korean word for the night sky.’
‘Baaaamhaaaneurrrr.’ Timira lets every syllable slowly roll over her tongue and inside her mouth.
Haneul smiles indulgently, like a proud parent.
‘Haneul-ssi, it was bamhaneul when we met in Bali?’
Timira has debated all day if she should bring up the events at the beach in Bali, but is still surprised to hear herself do so.
Haneul shifts uncomfortably in his seat.
‘Bali?’
