Chapter Text
Part 1: New Love
August greets Seoul like a warm hug, and Kitty once again finds herself back at KISS.
The summer had been full of opportunities for growth, healing, and new experiences. Amongst other things, the tour had helped her to further immerse herself in Korean culture and somewhat improve her understanding of the language. Kitty was also thrilled to see so many positive relationship changes in those she cared about, from Min Ho and his dad becoming slightly closer, to Dae coming along to support Eunice and even getting to perform a couple songs with her later in the tour. Kitty’s matchmaker heart could see that the future for them likely held a renewed love interest, and she was happy that her first love could find love again.
The one love that Kitty wasn’t good at fixing, was her own. It has been four months since Kitty realized she was in love with Min Ho, and four months since she has done nothing with that knowledge. Even a month into term, the two remain close but still outwardly platonic. Q thinks there’s still something there, but if so, why hasn’t Min Ho brought it up again? Kitty had thought for sure that this summer would have provided opportunities for romance and connection, but every time it had seemed like there was something unspoken between them, Min Ho had backed away. The two of them felt like the perfect match to Kitty, but clearly she has a lot to learn.
“How do you find matches?” Kitty asks Ji-won, as she sips her tea. The coziness of her family’s house in Bukjeong has become in some ways a second home to Kitty on weekends. Today, like many weekends before, she was soaking in the life and history that made her feel closer to her Halmeoni and mother.
Ji-won thinks for a moment. “There’s a lot of questions on our surveys,” she says after a pause, reaching into the desk drawer to hand one to Kitty. “You know, standard demographic things, but also questions about goals, preferred pace of life, dreams, and values. Honestly it mystifies me, but to my Halmeoni, it seems to come naturally.”
Kitty looks the booklet over. It’s only four pages, and despite her Hangul not being completely fluent, it seems fairly standard. “So, she can just sense the couples that are right for each other?”
Ji-won nods. “She chats with them, and it’s like she starts to know them intimately with just a few questions and observations. It feels almost like magic, but her success rate is so high! She’s the most popular matchmaker in the area because she’s so good.”
“That’s amazing!” Kitty exclaims, wondering if she also has this gift. Her matches have seemed pretty solid so far, but maybe she’d just gotten lucky. “Why hasn’t she found you a match yet?”
It’s clear that Ji-won is trying to keep a straight face but still she grimaces. “She says the right man hasn’t shown up yet…but I worry she just doesn’t want me to leave.”
Poor Ji-won. Kitty has never experienced the burden of feeling like she needs to carry on her family legacy. As the third child, with a supportive dad, there were never any expectations of what she would or wouldn’t do with her life. Ji-won was expected to continue the family matchmaker business, but her heart didn’t seem to be in it. Kitty doesn’t know how she would feel with that kind of weight on her shoulders. It was hard enough being in her final year of high school and not being entirely sure what she wanted to do for a living, or, for that matter, where she wanted to live as an adult now that Korea is feeling like a second home to her. She ponders this for a few moments, while Ji-won and her great aunt chat in Korean, until her cousin interrupts her thoughts.
“My Halmeoni says she wants to share something with you about love. Is that okay?”
“Of course!” Kitty says, perhaps a little too enthusiastically. “I can’t wait to learn from the expert.”
Her great-aunt speaks for a moment while Ji-won listens intently. Although Kitty can generally read and understand Korean, she still finds the aural component challenging, and is thankful for Ji-won’s ability to translate.
“She says she saw love that day at the market when we first sat down to talk. The boy you were with, you hadn’t asked him to come, right?” Ji-won confirms.
Min Ho. No she hadn’t. He was mad at her then for telling her she was suspicious of Stella. It occurs to Kitty that they weren’t even speaking to each other at the time. “That’s right,” Kitty nods. “Honestly I don’t even know how he knew where I was. Somehow he knew I needed him.”
Ji-won nods to her grandmother, confirming her suspicions before the elder continues. Her face softens as she speaks and although Kitty can only understand some words, she both hears the word for “love” and feels it too.
“She says that she could tell right then that he knew you deeply, and knew your flaws, but loved them right alongside your best qualities. His belief in you is largely why she decided to speak to you that day.”
Kitty’s heart flutters. She remembers when he’d shown up how scared, how thankful, she’d been. He knew her so well. Her great-aunt continues, clearly impassioned.
“Once he knew you were safe and over the biggest hurdle, he left you to fly on your own, because he knew what you were capable of and knew you were strong enough to do the rest yourself.”Ji-won pauses, listening. “He had faith that you were enough. That’s love.”
Kitty smiles at her great aunt respectfully, although her heart is pounding. She blinks, feeling tears rising to her eyes, willing herself to stay calm. That’s love . She hadn’t really thought about it before, but when Min Ho left that day, she hadn’t felt abandoned at all. She felt supported, strong, and ready. “Kamsahamnida,” she says with a small bow, though all she wants to do is hug her. “Thank you.”
Her great aunt speaks again, and she waits earnestly for Ji-won to translate.
“Does he know you love him too?”