XOXO by Axie Oh EPUB & PDF – eBook Details Online
- Author: Axie Oh
- Language: English
- Genre: Teen & Young Adult Clean & Wholesome Romance
- Format: PDF / EPUB
- Size: 2 MB
- Price: Free
Jay’s Karaoke sits at the center of a Koreatown strip mall between a Boba
Land 2 and Sookie’s Hair Emporium.
The door to the latter bursts open as I pass. “Yah, Jenny-yah!” Sookie
Kim, owner and hairdresser, stands in the doorway holding a plastic bag and
a flat iron. “Aren’t you going to say hello?”
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“Hello, Mrs. Kim,” I say, then stretch my neck to look over her shoulder
where three middle-aged women are seated in a row beneath hair dryers
watching a K-drama on a wall-mounted TV. “Hi, Mrs. Lim, Mrs. Chang,
Mrs. Sutjiawan.”
“Hi, Jenny,” they chorus back, waving at me briefly before returning their
attention to the couple on screen who appear to be heading toward a K-drama
kiss. The man leans his head one way, the woman the other, their lips touch
and hold as the camera pans out with dramatic music soaring in the
background.
As the credits start to roll, the ladies collapse back in their chairs with
dreamy sighs. Well, two of them do.
“That’s it?” Mrs. Sutjiawan throws her house slipper at the TV.
“Here.” Ignoring the women, Mrs. Kim hands over the plastic bag she’s
holding, which on closer inspection appears to be food wrapped up in a H
Mart grocery bag and knotted tight. “This is for you to share with your
mother.”
“Thank you.” I adjust my tote on my shoulder and bow slightly as I take
the offering.
Mrs. Kim clicks her tongue. “Your mother works too much! She should
be at home more, looking after her daughter.”
I’m almost certain my mother works the same amount of hours at the
office as Mrs. Kim does at her own business, but I have a strong enough
sense of self-preservation not to point this out. Instead, I continue to give off
respectable-young-person-vibes and smile politely.
It seems to be working
because Mrs. Kim’s face softens. “Your mother must be so proud of you,
Jenny. A good student. And so gifted in cello! I tell my Eunice that good
music schools only take the best, but does she listen?”
“Sookie-ssi!” one of the ladies calls from inside.
“Coming,” she yells back. As she heads into her shop, I make my way
next door.
Ever since Eunice and I started entering the same classical music
competitions in seventh grade, Mrs. Kim has been comparing the two of us.
With the compliments she’s always giving me, I shudder to think what
Eunice is receiving on the opposite end. Lately, I haven’t seen her at any of
the competitions. She wasn’t at last Saturday’s, the results of which are
currently burning a hole through my jacket pocket. If Mrs.
Kim were to read
what the judges said about me, she wouldn’t be so quick with her praise.
The bells above the door at Jay’s Karaoke chime my arrival.
“Be right there!” Uncle Jay’s voice travels from behind the curtain that
separates the bar from the kitchen.
Edging around the counter, I drop my tote and open the mini fridge to
stuff Mrs. Kim’s Tupperware between bottles of soju.
Seven years ago, Dad and Uncle Jay bought this place in order to fulfill a
dream they’d had since they were kids, to own and manage a karaoke
business together.
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