Interlude Part 6

"Ha Na"

Fall 2008

(A/N: In 2008 Ha Na is 15 years old, Jung Hwa is 16 years old and Hakyeon and Namjoon are both 18 years old)

Ha Na was happily wiping the tables in the small and empty café, while Jung Hwa stood behind the counter and yawned for the third time already. Nothing much happened at Jung Hwa's part time job, but it still paid well enough for a 16 year old high school girl, and Ha Na was always more than happy to come and help out. Not only did she get to spend her time with Jung Hwa, it also helped make her days a little less boring when she was occupied with something.

"Ha Na," said Jung Hwa while waving her hand in the air to get Ha Na's attention. When she finally looked up and noticed that Jung Hwa was trying to get in touch with her, she sent her a smile and waited for her to speak.

"Do you want a cup of hot chocolate? My boss won't mind if we take one each for free," signed Jung Hwa and Ha Na nodded eagerly whereafter she walked up to Jung Hwa and watched her make the two cups of hot chocolate. While they were both in the middle of enjoying this warm drink on a somewhat cold day, the door suddenly opened and a customer walked in.

"Welcome," said Jung Hwa and quickly put her cup away, while Ha Na moved out of the way for the young boy. When Ha Na took a better look at the boy, her eyes widened and she quickly signed to Jung Hwa:

"That is him, the boy I have been talking about." Even though Jung Hwa saw Ha Na's signs, she couldn't reply and just sent her a shocked look.

He had short, black hair and was wearing a school uniform, looking the same age as Ha Na. Judging from the uniform, he was clearly from the same school as Jung Hwa, but she didn't know him very well.

"How may I help you?" asked Jung Hwa, trying not to get distracted by Ha Na who kept trying to communicate.

"I... I..." stuttered the boy looking at Ha Na and then at Jung Hwa. It looked like he was trying to say something, but in the end he just ordered an Americano and then stood awkwardly at the counter while waiting for Jung Hwa to brew the coffee.

"I have seen him everywhere the last few weeks," signed Ha Na. Since she stood behind the counter, the boy wasn't able to see her hands.

"He always smiles at me and waves."

"He is probably just being polite," signed Jung Hwa, "now let me work in peace." Ha Na looked at Jung Hwa and pouted, but her sharp eyes made Ha Na draw back and she walked away from the counter, now only standing a few meters from the boy.

"Hello," said the boy all of a sudden and Ha Na noticed from his lips moving, "what school do you go to?" Ha Na was starting to sweat, not knowing how to answer him, but Jung Hwa quickly swooped in from the side, saying:

"She is deaf so she doesn't understand what you said."

"Oh, really?" said the boy and looked a little disappointed, "I... can you talk to her?"

"Me?" said Jung Hwa and pointed at herself, "yes I speak sign language, why?"

"Can you... tell her that I have seen her around a lot and I was wondering which school she goes to?"

"Sure," said Jung Hwa and immediately asked Ha Na. She looked at the boy and happily replied in sign language while Jung Hwa translated for her. For a while, they spoke to each other this way, the boy told them that his name was Kang Ji Soo and Ha Na introduced herself as well.

"Does she know how to read and write?" asked Ji Soo and Ha Na replied that she knew a little and was working hard to get better.

"Then... can I have your number?" Jung Hwa looked startled when she heard the words coming from Ji Soo's mouth and Ha Na looked just as startled when Jung Hwa translated it. But in the end, they exchanged numbers before saying their goodbyes and Ji Soo left the café.

"What just happened?" asked Jung Hwa in sign language while Ha Na was still looking at her phone in utter shock.

"I am not sure..." replied Ha Na, but then suddenly looked very serious, "but don't you dare tell my parents or Namjoon Oppa!"

"Why not?" asked Jung Hwa.

"Just because..." replied Ha Na, "and don't tell your brother either, he will just end up telling Namjoon Oppa."

"So I should just not tell anyone?"

"Yes, that is a good idea!" signed Ha Na and Jung Hwa just started laughing.

"You weird girl," said Jung Hwa.

As the days went by, Ha Na found herself being on her phone much more than usual. She would even dare to take it out in class if she saw a message from Ji Soo. Most of their conversations were only small talk, talking about their day or their school lives, which was lucky for Ha Na who hadn't learned how to read or write that well yet. Since sign language was very different in grammar, she often had trouble formulating her sentences properly.

But Ji Soo never mentioned any of this, he texted her like she was any other normal 15 year old girl and they slowly got to know each other better and better. Saying Ha Na developed feelings for him might be a little too much, but she was definitely happy to make a new friend. 

From: Unnie 💕

So, we're meeting at my school and then we'll go home together?

To: Unnie 💕

Yes, few minute, I be there.

From: Unnie 💕

Okay cool, but my class isn't over yet so you'll have to wait, is that okay?

To: Unnie 💕

Yes, that okay.

Ha Na stood outside Jung Hwa's high school and watched the many young students walking around while talking and laughing together, some taking a break, some on their way home and some simply cutting class. While she was observing the many people around the school area, she suddenly noticed a young boy standing under a tree with three other boys. As he seemed familiar, Ha Na walked a bit closer and soon realized it was Ji Soo. With a huge smile she ran over and happily greeted him with a bow.

"Who is this?" asked one of the boys named Yoon Hwi, but Ji Soo had his eyes fixated on Ha Na.

"Ha Na, what are you doing here? Wait how can I talk to you without Jung Hwa Noona?" Ha Na quickly did an "OK" sign and Ji Soo asked; "you understand?" Ha Na nodded and signed "little" which was an easy sign to understand so Ji Soo just nodded along.

I see you so I come say hi, okay?

Ji Soo looked at the message on Ha Na's phone that she was happily showing, but so were the other boys and they had trouble understanding the situation.

"Yes, that is okay but-"

"What is wrong with her?" asked a boy, his name was Won Woo.

"She is deaf," replied Ji Soo, "I met her at a café a while ago."

"But how do you talk to her when she is deaf?" asked Yoon Hwi, the boy from before.

"She can read and write," replied Ji Soo while Ha Na had trouble following the conversation at this point.

"If you can call that writing," said Won Woo, "her grammar is worse than a little kid's." Ji Soo looked at Ha Na, worried she understood the things they were saying while at the same time not having the guts to stand up to her.

"Why did you even get her number in the first place?" asked Min Gyu, the third guy who hadn't said anything until just now.

"Yes, who would want to hang out with a deaf girl?" continued Yoon Hwi.

"You probably didn't know she was deaf before you approached her, right Ji Soo?" asked Won Woo.

"Well..."

"Yes," continued Yoon Hwi, "that is definitely it. She is a pretty girl so you wanted her number but then you found out she was deaf and it was already too late to ignore her."

"Is that what happened?" asked Min Gyu and Ji Soo felt all three sets of eyes being planted on him, not to mention Ha Na who was still looking around, feeling the tense atmosphere and the hostile body language towards her.

"Yes... I guess that is... what happened," said Ji Soo and they all nodded along.

"Of course," said Yoon Hwi and started laughing, the others following along.

"Poor Ji Soo, stuck with a deaf girl," said Won Woo and Ji Soo nervously laughed along with the rest. Yoon Hwi suddenly got eye contact with Ha Na who just looked like a lost kid not understand anything, just sensing that something was wrong.

"What are you still doing here?" asked Yoon Hwi with a glare, "just leave!" Clearly understanding the word "leave" Ha Na quickly turned around and left the four boys under the three, her chest feeling tight and her eyes watery.

***

"He is just an idiot," signed Jung Hwa while she and Ha Na were seated on her soft bed. Ha Na didn't reply but just nodded along.

"He is a stupid immature teenage boy and you are better off without the likes of him!" Jung Hwa began her lecture, "just forget- wait, was that a text from him?" Ha Na looked down on her phone that lied next to her and indeed there was a text from Ji Soo.

From: Ji Soo 🐬

I'm sorry about today, I was startled to see you at school and I didn't know what to do when my stupid friends were acting up. I'm sorry, can you forgive me?

Jung Hwa looked at Ha Na after reading the message and when she saw the smile that slowly appeared on her lips, Jung Hwa sighed deeply.

"No... no no no, you are not forgiving him just like that!" signed Jung Hwa, but Ha Na was already busy texting him back.

"Why am I even here? Who am I talking to? I should just be talking to the door, hey there door, how was your day? OUCH!" Ha Na gently hit Jung Hwa when she noticed her signing in the background, mocking her for ignoring her and when they both got eye contact with each other, they just burst out laughing.

After messaging Ji Soo Ha Na promised not to go to his school again without trying to argue about it at all. She was only happy that he still wanted to be her friend.

On a windy afternoon, Ha Na was about to leave her high school when she felt her phone vibrate in her pocket. She took it out and smiled when she read the message from Ji Soo.

"Hey, you!" yelled a girl, but Ha Na was too busy, her head buried in her phone so she didn't notice someone was calling her.

"Don't just ignore me!" yelled the girl and grabed Ha Na's arm which immediately got her to turn around. Ha Na locked eyes with the girl in front of her who still held her arm tight and next to her where two girls who both had a disgusted look in their eyes.

"You. Slut!" yelled the girl named Hyo Jin, "why have you been texting Ji Soo? Who do you think you are?"

"Hyo Jin, remember she is deaf," whispered the girl named Sol Ji.

"Yes, she can't hear you," continued the third girl, Hee Yeon.

"You are right," said Hyo Jin and let go of Ha Na and started typing on her phone.

Stay away from Ji Soo, stop texting him and never come to our school again!

Ha Na looked at the message and felt perplexed, looking up again and locking eyes with Hyo Jin. She calmly took out her own phone and started typing in her reply.

I and Ji Soo we friends. If he text me he decide.

"Didn't you understand what I just wrote?" yelled Hyo Jin after reading Ha Na's response and she used both her hands to push Ha Na to the ground, "STAY. AWAY. FROM JI SOO!"

"She can't even write correctly," said Sol Ji and laughed.

"She must not only be deaf, but also retarded," added Hee Yeon.

In the mean time, Ha Na was trying to get up from the ground, but before she could get up entirely, Hyo Jin pushed her down again.

"Do you understand?" yelled Hyo Jin and used the inside of her foot to kick some dirt from the ground onto Ha Na, "answer me, do you understand?"

Stay away from Ji Soo, answer and say you understand!

Ha Na read the message on Hee Yeon's phone while Hyo Jin just glared at her from above. Feeling the burning look from Hyo Jin, Ha Na slowly nodded and looked at the three girls.

"You understand?" said Hyo Jin and Ha Na nodded again, "GOOD!" While Hyo Jin grabbed Hee Yeon's phone, typing in something else, Ha Na carefully got up on her feet again, only to get the phone shoved in her face.

If you ever contact Ji Soo again I'll make sure you'll regret it!

And just as Ha Na had read those words off of the screen, she felt a pair of hands grab her one more time and she fell back on the ground, the three girls laughing while walking away from her, finally leaving her alone.

After getting up from the ground and brushing away the remains of her tears, Ha Na got home and limped to the front door, but the second she walked inside, she was met by her mom.

"What on earth has happened?" yelled she when she saw Ha Na's dirty uniform and the scrapes on her legs and arms from falling down several times.

"I fell," lied Ha Na, but Eun Ji didn't even listen and just dragged her to the living room where Byung Ho was calmly reading a newspaper.

"Look at our daughter!" yelled Eun Ji out and Byung Ho's eyes shot up and landed on Ha Na with horror written on them.

"Sweetheart, why do you look like that?" asked Byung Ho in sign language and Ha Na felt the tears coming out again.

"Ha Na, tell us!" pleaded Eun Ji and Ha Na couldn't keep it in any longer and the tears slowly fell down her cheeks which only made the horror in the parents' eyes grow bigger.

After crying in Eun Ji's arms for half an hour, Ha Na finally calmed down enough to tell them the entire story, trying to avoid her mother's hand slapping her when she heard that Ha Na had secretly been texting a boy and Byung Ho trying to calm down Eun Ji.

"Don't punish her, she has already been through enough," said Byung Ho and Eun Ji sighed deeply.

"Fine, but let me go to Bo Ra's house right now so I can tell her what her daughter participated in and what the ending result was!"

"No, it wasn't Jung Hwa Unnie's fault," signed Ha Na, "don't tell her mom, please!" Eun Ji looked at Ha Na for a while and then held out her hand.

"Okay, I won't, but then give me your phone." Ha Na handed the phone to her mom without questions.

"Unlock it please." Again, Ha Na did just as her mother said and she watched her mother going into her contacts where she immediately blocked Ji Soo's number and then deleted it right after.

"And you will never contact that boy again, do you understand?" Ha Na obediently nodded and her mom handed her back the phone.

"Don't ever hang out with people we don't know. You already have Jung Hwa so just be with her, you can't trust other people," said Eun Ji while Byung Ho sat silently in the background, "promise that you won't meet other people, promise it!"

"I promise," signed Ha Na and Eun Ji sighed, a faint smile finally showing on her face.

"Good... that is good."

Hello everyone!

I hope you enjoyed this interlude, the very last in this book! I hope you have enjoyed this small flashbacks to events in the past. If you did please let me know through the comments!

Fact #6 about sign language

Deaf people often use a name-sign to refer to each other. A name-sign is unique and made for every individual and is practical as it doesn't require you to finger spell your whole name. A name-sign often has a personal meaning, fx, if you're a baker, your name-sign might be an abbreviation of the sign for "baker" and the first letter of your name (an example) It's normal that you don't chose your own name-sign, but others chose it for you. When you meet a deaf person for the first time, it's normal to spell out your entire name and afterwards tell them your name-sign so they can use this to refer to you in the future.

Please take good care of yourself and stay safe!

Love, Annalise~