Morning Full fo Bustle
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As always, Seoul was alive in the early morning with the sound and optics of hurried footsteps, honking cars, and a cacophony of overlaid conversations from afar. The city had woken up-coffee shops drawing their first brews and newspaper stands taking shape, while faces were streaked with rush and already moving. In a little coffee shop at the corner of a narrow lane, the rich smell of coffee wafted out long onto the sidewalk, brushed with delectable notes of fresh pastries.
But all of a sudden, in a tiny peeling-paint home across the street, lined with flowerpots along the windowsills, the calm morning air was rent with a loud shout.
"Hye-jin! Yah! Do you think the world will wait while you laze about like some princess?" yelled her aunt from the kitchen.
Inside, Hye-jin's head popped up from the pillow; eyes wide and hair all over. She groaned, closing her eyes in readiness to pull the blanket over her heheadhere was no dodging her aunt's wrath this morning.
"Do you know what twhatt is?" her aunt yelled, storming into the bedroom with her hands on her hips. "Almost It's almostAnd you have class at nine! You'll miss it again!
Do yo "u think your professors have nothing better to do than to wait for you?"
Hye-jin peeked orom under the blanket and muttered, "Just let me sleep for five minutes, Auntie… please…"
Her aunt narrowed her eyes and gave an exasperated sigh. "Five more minutes?
Five more years, at this rate! How do you expect to become a doctor when you cant can't get out of bed?
Get up! Or I will have to get you out myself!"
Hye-jin sat up; rubbing her eyes. "Auntie, I was studying till 2 a.m.! I- "And llet'sstay sharp. Doctors need sleep as much as anyone else..."
"Doctors require some principles!"
She yanked Hye-jin out of the bed by the arm. "You need one of those clocks that assures a musical note hits you over the head. I swear you would sleep on your graduation day if no one wakes you up!"
Hye-jin tried to lift herself with a touch of effort, muttering, "Okay, okay, I'm awake." She yawned and stretched herself while still shifting the crumbled look from her pillow.
Her aunt looked at her with frustration and love while reaching for a comb andtusslingd with the unruly bunch of Hye-jin's hair.
"Aouch, Auntie!" Hye-jin yelled, tearing up a bit.
"Don't touchh' me. Someday you will have to learn how to take care of yourself. Do you think I will be here forever serving you, waking you, and brushing your hair?"
Hye-jin sported a charming grin on her face. "But I guess a girl is entitled to dream!"
Her aunt outshot her a shaft of teasing glares and barked, "Dream as much as you want, but for now head to the bat,h to wash yourself. Then make haste, for breakfast is almost ready. I made you seaweed soup, just how you like it!"
Hye-jin felt the rumbling of her stomach and became moderately animated. "Okay, but only for the soup."
Her aunt shook her head after watching all this. "Too smart for her own good; this , and yet, has not a single sense of discipline. Just like her father."
Hye-jin stopped at the door of the bathroom, turning back toward her aunt. "Did you say something about my dad?"
Her aunt froze, and her expression became suddenly frozen. "I said... Snap to it! Wait no longer than thirty minutes, or you starve!"
Then Hye-jin rolled Her eyes sank, and she shuffled into the bathroom, but a strange prick of doubt lingered on her mind. Her aunt hAuntarely mentioned her father. But let this not stand in the way; right now, there was a seaweed soup to attend to, and Hye-jin rightly would have a lot to do tomorrow, of course, she manmanaged againstl odds-to modds toto class on time.
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