Soojin, happy that the kitten took a liking to its new name, placed it back in the paper box.

“I’m tired, so I'm going to rest a bit. Okay?”

Soojin said as she tapped Kiki’s nose with her finger, and laid down using her arm as a pillow. As she laid on the floor, trying to fall asleep, various thoughts began to fill her mind: such as Mia’s sideways glance. On the surface she seemed to be very welcoming, but that glance seemed a bit off. It felt very much like a look of disdain. Why would she give me that sort of look? Soojin assumed it must have been because she was Korean. Soojin had heard, on several occasions, that the Japanese didn’t fancy Koreans. Also, considering Japan was a country that has committed wicked acts upon the people of Korea, Soojin didn’t have a good perception of the Japanese either.

Soojin closed her eyes once again to go to sleep, when she heard a voice from outside. It sounded like Mia’s voice. Soojin lurched up, went to the window, and looked at Mr. Ishii’s house through the blinds. Mia and her husband were coming out of the house, and getting into a car that seemed much too cramped for two. Their car narrowly made its way out of the alley, and soon disappeared somewhere. Soojin, after seeing this, closed the window.

****

Japan…

Soojin still didn’t know how this country truly looked, so, deciding to go explore a bit, she embraced Kiki and went outside. As Soojin exited alleyway after alleyway, she started to wonder if this was really Tokyo; since the terribly small, old houses surprised her. Houses not even half the size of the ones in Korea lined the streets. Soojin, exploring the neighborhood, stumbled across a small park near her grandmother’s house. An iron fence lined the edge of the park. There were pull-up bars, benches, and swings for the citizens to use; however, one out of the three swings was broken. Ravens were wandering around the park in groups. Soojin thought the ravens were hideous and creepy, so she dallied to a bench far from them and plopped down. Soojin sat on the wooden bench, enjoying the blanket of warmth the sun provided, as she observed the park visitors. They were mostly older people chatting away in groups of threes and twos. Soojin wrapped the string tied to Kiki around her finger and sat her on the ground. When Kiki’s four legs hit the ground she looked around flustered. Soojin giggled at Kiki, and shifted her gaze to the park’s right-side fence. Bicycles were lined up there. Soojin, judging from the fluorescent yellow sign that read “Bicycle parking” on the nearby pillar, assumed that’s where bikes should be parked. Soojin couldn’t read the Japanese, but could deduce its meaning from the small knowledge of Chinese characters she had acquired from school in Korea. All the bicycles were the typical Japanese style with a metal basket on the back or front; however this was unique to Soojin. In Korea they didn’t put these flimsy baskets on bikes. Soojin let out a sigh, when something more caught her eye. Nearby was a Japanese school boy, and a girl wearing a sailor uniform. The boy took the girl’s school bag, and placed it into the bike’s metal basket. The girl wrapped her arms around the boy’s waist, and the two rode off. Soojin felt like she was watching some kind of circus, “They’ll end up crashing like that..” she thought. Once the two had left her sight, Soojin looked toward the other side of the park, where ravens were gathering. The ravens were pecking away at some garbage. They were all so big and dirty. Soojin contorted her face with disgust and looked around some more, when she heard some scratching on the ground. Kiki was repeatedly hopping and pushing his pawns onto the ground.

“You rascal!”

Kiki seemed to have found an anthill.

The ants were scattering, evading Kiki’s barrage of paws. Soojin relished in Kiki’s cuteness for a while, before picking her up, and standing from the bench. Soojin didn’t want to go back to an empty house, but also didn’t think she could roam around a strange, unfamiliar city.

***

3 years passed like a flash; Soojin was now 20 years old. The girl who didn’t know a single word of Japanese could now communicate without problem. Of course, Mr. Ishii was of great help. He helped Soojin, materially and spiritually, as if he was her real father. He even made sure that Soojin was able to go to the acting classes she so wholeheartedly desired. Of course, at first, he wasn’t keen on the idea of Soojin becoming an actress; but as the number of days grew larger, so did Soojin’s desire.

“Why do you want to be an actress so bad?”

“I want to make a lot of money. If I become an actress, I can make a lot of money!”

“It might be a rougher path than you think. Many people aspire to be actors, because they uselessly admire them, but very few actually succeed, you know?”

Mr. Ishii tried to reason with Soojin, but that advice did little to extinguish Soojin’s burning desire.

“I think I'll do some part time jobs while attending acting school. I should at least give it a shot shouldn't I?”

Mr. Ishii discussed this matter many times with Soojin’s grandmother. Of course, her grandmother tried to stop her.

“In this kind of financial situation…”

Despite the fact that her grandmother seldomly talked about their financial situation, Soojin still knew they weren’t well off.

Eventually, after much meandering, they decided to send Soojin to acting school. As a result, when Soojin turned 19 years old, she entered into an acting school in Ikebukuro. Whenever Soojin was in acting class, she was happy, but she quickly fell into narcissism. No other actress was as beautiful as her, not even close. She frequently would strip off all her clothes, and stare at her beauty in the mirror. Soojin listed off her features in her head: slender, curved waist; smooth, fair skin; perky breasts, and reddish-pink nipples. “There’s no other woman in this world as beautiful as me.” That’s what Soojin believed. She would practice her expressions in the mirror, over and over. Whether the script said cry, get angry, or smile, Soojin practiced them all. Whenever she nailed an expression she felt extremely proud of herself, and when she failed, she felt like shattering the mirror and stabbing herself with the glass. Soojin had two faces, one was a frigid winter, and the other was a warm spring. During her acting classes, when her peers would call her, they would freeze from her terrifying gaze, only to be melted by the warm smile that followed.

***

Around the time Soojin was starting to get a feel for acting, her grandmother’s chronic illness began to worsen, and she became bedridden. One day the doctor came on a house call, and dropped a bomb of shattering truth onto the family.

“She’ll be lucky to make it another month.”

Soojin’s grandmother was her only blood-relative in this strange country, and now she only had a month to live? Soojin was devastated: her grandmother was her everything. Of course, Mr. Ishii was also in shock.

***

15 days later.

Mr. Ishii called Mia.

“Have a seat.”

“What is it father?”

“I don’t know if you heard the news, but Soojin is going to perform in a play at the National Theater.

“What! Really?”

“Yup.”

Mia’s eyes widened.

“I can’t believe it..”

This was extremely great news, but Mia’s complexion quickly changed. Watching how her father had focused all his affection onto Soojin in the past few years, caused a pile of discontent to build inside Mia. The same was true for Soojin’s entrance into the acting academy, and how her father so freely paid the $800 a month to fund it; how he affectionately called Soojin’s name, and her good looks. All these things coalesced to form a stabbing jealousy inside of Mia. The true reason Mr. Ishii called Mia was because her job was related to Soojin’s performance: Mia was a top planner and designer for a stage production company. Mia, who had attended a technical college for stage design and had plenty experience designing stages in America, was fairly well known in this industry.

“But- father…”

Mia gave an incredulous look

“As far as i know, the cast of that play is already set in stone.”

“Then what about Soojin?”

“I’m not sure about Soojin. There’s no way they would let a Korean on that stage.”

“You’re right.. Maybe she’s taking part under a fake name. Wait a minute, the president of the academy will surely know. Go get my notebook from my study.”

Mr. Ishii unraveled the string holding his notebook shut, put on his reading glasses and called the number written inside. Mr. Ishii exchanged some words with the academy president over the phone then set the phone down, when Mia asked.

“What did he say?”

“Soojin was right, the president said she will be in the next performance, and not as a mere minor role, but as a lead role!”

“Wha- really? How is this possible?”

“Father, I’m sure you know, but this performance will be performed by some of the greatest actors in the business. But somehow a rookie like Soojin who hasn’t even been acting for 1 year is in the lead role? Does that really make sense?”

Of course, Mia’s words weren’t incorrect.

“And many stage design companies competed for the chance to design in this play, our company was one of them. Do you know why our company fell out of the competition? The working-level staff lobbied and worked really hard to get the stage equipment for this performance, but it fell through because of our company's history. They said we’re too inexperienced. Isn’t it a bit odd Soojin would be selected for a play this competitive? Father.. do you think Soojin has a ‘relationship’ with one of the executives?”

Mr. Ishii looked at Mia angrily

“What is wrong with you, Soojin is pretty much your sister, how could you make such hasty remarks about her.”

But Mia flared up, she had to let this out.

“Father, We all know Soojin is extremely good-looking. So much so that I even get jealous, but this isn’t a play where you can get in purely on looks. Even the seats are extremely hard to get in, they’re all taken but politicians and influential businessmen, even the prime minister is going to be there. It’s impossible for Soojin to have made it in without help from one of the higher ups”

“You’re talking as if she really does have something with the executive.”

“That’s what I’m telling you father!”

“Enough, leave me alone.”

Mia, in response to her father’s discontent, bit her bottom lip, stomped out of the room and slammed the door.