Her name was Lee Byun and she was the youngest of a Korean immigrant family. After an initial assessment, it was decided that Lee and her twin older brother would be held back a grade to allow them to adjust socially, catch up academically, and improve their language capabilities. This rubbed Lee's brothers the wrong way and in typical Korean fashion, they took it out on their younger sibling. While highly protective of Lee, they had no qualms bossing her around with harsh indifference at the same time. Because Lee was deferential to her brothers when in their presences, any who met Lee to think of her as nice but very shy.
My name is Don, and I was assigned as Lee's high school counselor when she enrolled. Contrary to popular opinion, I found my new high school junior to be quite fluent in English and was extremely personable once she got to know you. Hoping to make her transition to a new life a smooth one, I told her that if she needed to talk about her adjustment to school or her new life to just stop by and chat.
For some reason, this offer really pleased Lee who from then on made it a point of dropping in to say good morning or goodbye in the afternoon. While initially taken aback, I had to admit that she was a refreshing splash of youthful brightness to my drab and boring workday. As time went on, I began looking forward to her spontaneous visits in my otherwise ho-hum counseling duties and routines.
I noticed that while never trying to draw attention to herself as many teenage girls did, Lee nevertheless did. She had a natural beauty highlighted by her ebony hair that contrasted sharply with her creamy white skin, her dark brown almond-shaped eyes with a hint of mascara lining, cute little nose, and her delicate inviting lips. Her youth clothes were tasteful yet modest, and somehow complimented her slender body. Without trying, Lee was appealing in an understated way.
When her brothers graduated after her first year and she was no longer under their watchful eye, my unassuming wisp of a girl really blossomed. With each encounter, Lee revealed a disarming sense of humor, a willingness to please, and a maturity beyond her years. As new aspects of her personality became apparent, it was clear that my Korean transfer student was more than met the eye.
Having attended summer school to catch up academically, Lee stopped by at the end of the session. "Umm, Mr. Don, would it be alright with you if I did my school service elective as your office assistant for my senior year? It'll be the sixth period and when you don't have things for me to do, I can do my homework using your office work table. I think a good way to end the school day and will help me finish my studies before heading to my part-time job. Please, Mr. Don, sign off on my course change slip. You won't regret it. I promise."
It was a no-brainer that I signed off on the course change slip, but I hemmed-and-hawed to tease Lee before finally giving in. I was immediately rewarded with a shrill squeal of delight as Lee could barely contain her delight. Before she rushed off to the registrar's office, she flashed me a beaming smile that warmed my heart and for some strange reason, another part of my body.
As the semester progressed, Lee's shared that her life revolved around her alcoholic and abusive father. "My father's greatest wish was to emigrate from Korea to the United States and opening his own restaurant with his wife and family. For a while, it seemed that this dream would come true, but before we could leave Korea, disaster struck. A terrible fire that consumed the family's little business. Much of his resources, and killed my mother.
"My father was devastated at the loss of my mother and his business. It was, however, too late to stop the relocation plans and so we moved. But, life in America was not what he hoped it would be. He became bitter when he was forced to take whatever jobs he could find to support his children in a new world. His setbacks and the shame of failing quickly put him on a downward spiral that led to alcoholism.
"My brothers, Han and Jae, endured our father's abuse and contributed to the household and his drinking habit with their meager part-time job salaries. However, once they graduated, they eagerly left home. Han joined the military and Jae moved to another state to attend college, leaving me to fend for myself in terms of our father.
"With my brothers gone, my father demanded that I turn over my meager paycheck from my after-school job to him. To my shame, I did not tell him that I kept my tips since I needed the money to take care of my personal needs. So, while my classmates and friends pursue American teenage interests such as dating, outings, and proms, I must work to put myself through school and support my father's drinking habit."
As I would discover later, Lee's own bright spot for some unknown reason was me. "You know, Mr. Don," Lee disclosed at the end of a school day, "You're the first person in my entire life who has treated me with kindness and has not demanded anything of me. When I am with you, my world seems brighter as well as calmer. You're the only refuge in my life. I don't know what I would do without you."
Now I will be the first to admit that I'm no Adonis. At twenty-six, I'm a junk food junkie, out-of-shape, and somewhat on a chunky side. I'm single because I'm the kind of guy that women always had as a good-guy friend but never as a boyfriend. I drive a beaten-up clunker of a car that gets me from here to there, and have a small one-bedroom apartment that I rent on my meager counselor's salary.
Because I was the school counselor with the least seniority, I always ended up as the chaperone the many school activities which was okay with me for it filled the void of my non-existent social life and gave me the extra spending money. Since photography was my hobby, I often got pressed into taking candid shots of after-school events, and I had a camera always ready in my office to capture candid snapshots of student and campus life. However, what my camera failed to capture was the sad state of my own life.
I didn't realize just how hopelessly lonely I was until Lee, a teenage girl who was seven years younger than me, waltzed into my life and started to take it over. First, she started dropping off her books and lunch in my office so that she wouldn't have to lug them around campus. Then Lee would bring me little treats from the restaurant that she worked at to indulge my sweet tooth. We began eating lunch together with me working while I ate and Lee studying so no one could criticize us. But it was in the sixth period of the day that we really bonded in the most unexpected way.
It all began when one day I was bored after a long and frustrating day. For some reason, I whipped out my omnipresent camera and began taking impromptu shots of Lee. At first, it started out as fun, a simple way to playfully tease and record her reactions. "Stop, Mr. Don!" protested Lee. "You're embarrassing me! Ooh, I never knew you could be such a dirty old man harassing sweet innocent young girls like me! Hmmph!"
