8

Jisu was helping Linda set the dining room table for lunch when she heard Jeff Murray come in through the front door.

“Daaaaad!” Mandy yelled as she ran down the steps and into her father’s arms. Mr. Murray was home from his business trip, and Jisu and the Murrays were going to finally have a proper family meal.

“We’ve been cooking all morning just for you, Dad,” Mandy said. Linda and Jisu exchanged a look. Of course, the two of them had been the ones to toil away in the kitchen while Mandy was upstairs, FaceTiming with her friends.

Mr. Murray made his way into the kitchen and embraced his wife. He was at least a foot taller than her, but they were both the same shade of blond. And while Linda’s eyes were a simple brown, his shared the same green color as Mandy’s. He looked like he could sunburn easily. “Whatever you’re making, it smells amazing.” He turned to Jisu. “And you must be our new guest. It’s so nice to meet you, Jisu. I’m sorry to have missed your first couple weeks here, but welcome.”

“Thank you, Mr. Murray!” Jisu said. “It’s nice to finally meet you, too.”

“Please, call me Jeff.” He waved off the formality just as Linda had done when Jisu first landed in San Francisco.

Jisu went in for a handshake, but he went for a full-on bear hug. On the surface, the Murrays looked like an almost too-perfect, pristine Stepford-like family. But they truly were warm, friendly people.

Seeing all three of them together made Jisu’s heart ache. She yearned for Sunday mornings in Seoul. She wanted to be back in her parents’ dining room. Jisu closed her eyes and could see her dad sitting across from her, taking sips from his coffee while reading the morning paper, giving her a breakdown of current events. She could see her mom piling steamed vegetables and sweet black beans onto her dish to make sure her daughter got her nutrients. Jisu would give anything to eat her mother’s banchan again. The steamed tofu, mini anchovies, scallion pancakes, cucumber kimchi—she missed all of it.

Jisu opened her eyes. The Murrays were sitting where she had imagined her own parents. Just two and a half months until you’re back in Seoul. The countdown clock in Jisu’s brain could not move any slower.

“So, tell me, Jisu. How do you like Wick-Helmering so far?” Jeff asked as he passed the plate of grilled vegetables to his wife. The weather in the Bay Area had been unseasonably warmer than usual, and Linda had said it was an excuse to use the grill one more time.

“I actually really like it,” Jisu said. And it was true. Transitioning to a whole new country was not without its difficulties, but Wick—as great of a reputation as it had for academic excellence—was much more relaxed than Daewon. Jisu was easing into her classes without much struggle and she had time to actually attend her photography club meetings and make new friends like Jamie and Tiffany. Even Kaylee was warming up to her again. “I just really miss home, is all.”

“Trust me, I know a thing or two about homesickness,” Jeff said. “These two here will tell you how often I’m on the road.”

“What do you do when you miss home?” Jisu asked.

“Well, for one, I’ll FaceTime with Linda, and also Mandy, if she’s not too busy hanging out with her friends.”

“Dad, that was just one time.” Mandy rolled her eyes.

“Otherwise, I keep myself as busy as I can,” Jeff said. “Have you joined any clubs or any teams?”

“Jisu is an excellent photographer,” Linda said. Jisu had probably shown her no more than four or five of her stills, but Linda spoke as if she had studied Jisu’s whole portfolio and carefully curated a selection of the best pictures. It was the kind of confidence that only a proud, supportive parent could learn to exude.

“I’m an amateur, but yes. I went to the first club meeting the other day and I think I’m going to participate in some of the contests this year.”

Jisu never had time to actually join the photography club at Daewon. She probably was better off spending whatever free time she had to start looking into and preparing for college admissions, but she was no longer in Seoul and no longer a Daewon student. She was miles and miles away and she was going to do what she wanted.

“That’s great! You should join more clubs—it’ll get your mind off home,” Jeff said. “And when you do catch up with your parents and your friends, you’ll have so much to fill them in on.”

“Jisu, honey, you’ve barely touched your plate. Are you feeling all right?” Linda asked. Jisu looked down. They had spent the morning cooking together and Jisu had been excited to eat, but thoughts of home had eliminated her appetite. Still...she didn’t want to be rude.

“No, this is great!” she said as she lifted a forkful of food to her mouth. “So, did you go anywhere exciting for this trip?”

“I went to the glamorous Midwest—outside Chicago, not even in the actual city. So no, nothing exciting.” Jeff laughed.

“There was that one time we all got to go to Hawaii,” Mandy said. “We made a family trip out of it. Have you been, Jisu?”

“I actually haven’t. My parents like to travel around Asia mostly, and sometimes Europe. I have been to New York once though, and I loved it.” Jisu wished her parents could be here to explore San Francisco with her as they had all the other cities they’d traveled to.

“Have you guys ever been to Seoul?” she asked.

“We haven’t! But now we have no excuse not to,” Linda said. “I’ve actually never been to Asia. The long flights are just so daunting.”

“We should visit Jisu in the summer!” Mandy suggested.

“You should. Seoul is the best,” Jisu said. “And I could be your tour guide!”

In her mind, Jisu conjured up lists of places to eat and shop. She mentally visited all the hangout spots that she’d frequented with Euni and Min. Had they discovered any new ones since she’d been gone?

She started to feel physically ill and excused herself from the table at the earliest moment she could without being rude. After trudging upstairs, she plopped herself onto her bed and tried to call her parents. Voice mail. The sun probably hadn’t even risen over Seoul yet, so a part of her was quietly relieved that they hadn’t answered all grumpy in a half-awake stupor.

Earlier in the week, Jisu had learned the hard way that spending countless hours scrolling through her friends’ Instagram pages made the homesickness worse. Distance makes the heart grow fonder, but distance plus social media makes the heart crumble from intense, unbearable waves of FOMO and homesickness.

She’d promised herself not to check social media so often, but in a moment of weakness, Jisu peeked at Euni’s and Min’s photos. Seeing their selfies, aerial shots of their smoothies and concert photos made her briefly feel that she was there with them. But the ache returned immediately. Jisu wanted so badly to be there next to her friends. She wanted them here, too, in her room. She wanted to tell them about everything: the Murrays, all the crazy different non-uniformed outfits people wore at school, the amazing burritos and pho she’d been eating nonstop since arriving in the Bay Area, her new giant blonde goddess friends Jamie and Tiffany, her annoying classmates, the faux Korean Dave, even about Austin...

Jisu’s phone buzzed. She grabbed it to check her notifications. Maybe Euni was up early and down to video chat?

Ughhh. Jisu yelled into her pillow. Stupid Dave had promised to text Jisu his schedule, but he still hadn’t reached out. He was probably busy scaling a mountain somewhere, so that he could use the experience as a long-winded metaphor in his college application essays. They still had a lot of time, but Jisu needed to get her work done, too.

Finally. Figuring out a time to meet Dave was like pulling teeth. Just how difficult was it going to be to put together an entire project with this guy?