BCN The Korean restaurant in a less lively neighborhood of Barcelona exuded a familiar warmth that wrapped around Sara the moment she stepped inside.
The mingling aromas of sesame oil and simmering broth transported her, if only for a moment, to her childhood.
Behind the counter, Sun Byul, the owner stood with her sleeves rolled up, her hands deftly arranging plates of fermented vegetables.
She glanced up at the familiar sound of the doorbell and greeted her with a smile.
‘Sara, long time no see!
How have you been?’ she exclaimed in Korean.
‘Good morning, Sun Byul!
How are you?’ Sara replied, bowing slightly.
‘Oh, busy as always.
And you?
It’s been a while since we saw you last.’ ‘I’ve been fine,’ Sara said with a small laugh, ‘I escape here whenever work allows me.’ ‘Will your father be joining you today?’ Sun Byul asked.
‘Not today,’ Sara replied, shaking her head.
‘I came alone.
I needed some Korean food.
Do you have seafood soup?’ ‘Of course!
And today we also have japchae.
Do you fancy some?’ Sara’s face lit up at the mention of the glass noodle dish.
‘Absolutely.
I came hungry!’ ‘As usual,’ Sun Byul teased with a laugh before bustling off to the kitchen.
Sara chose her usual corner seat, one that afforded her a view of the small dining area.
Nearby, two young girls were engaged in an animated conversation.
What caught Sara’s attention was not their gestures or enthusiasm but their choice of language— their voices alternating between hesitant Korean and animated Spanish, though one of them struggled with pronunciation.
‘Well, it’s obvious she ended up with Sun-oh,’ one of them declared in Korean, her accent charmingly imperfect.
‘He’s the handsome one.
In dramas, there are no surprises.’ ‘I support Hye-young,’ the other countered earnestly.
‘His love seems more selfless to me.’ The back-and-forth continued and Sara couldn’t help but smile as she eavesdropped, charmed by their enthusiasm and effort.
Moments later, Sun Byul returned with a steaming bowl of seafood soup.
Noticing Sara’s glance toward the girls, she leaned in and whispered conspiratorially, ‘They’re doing a language exchange.
They speak half Korean, half Spanish.
Ever since an influencer posted about it on Instagram, people have been coming here for the same.
Our customers have increased thanks to this.
With the food, they feel a little more like they’re in Korea.’ Sara nodded thoughtfully.
‘I came for the same reason.’ Sun Byul tilted her head, curious.
‘Will you join one of these exchanges?’ ‘No,’ Sara admitted, her voice softening.
‘The other reason—feeling more in Korea.’ ‘Ah,’ Sun Byul murmured, her understanding immediate.
Sara stirred her soup absently, the clinking of her spoon punctuating her thoughts.
‘I don’t know if I’m particularly nostalgic, but today I needed to feel like I was there…’ ‘How long has it been since you last visited?’ Sara sighed, her gaze distant.
‘It’s been ten years already.
When I was a child, we used to visit my paternal grandmother every year.
But when she passed away, we stopped going.
We hardly had any family left there.’ ‘Don’t you have any more family in Korea?’ Sun Byul asked gently.
‘I didn’t get to know my mother’s family.
They all passed away before I was born.
On my father’s side, I have an aunt and two cousins.
We talk from time to time, but I haven’t visited them again.’ Sun Byul’s face softened with sympathy.
‘I’m sorry.
It must have been hard for your family.
Family is the most important thing a person can have.
We can fight with our relatives until we almost kill each other, but they are always there.’ Sara smiled faintly.
‘We were happy.
My father, my mother, and I.
We had each other.’ Sensing Sara’s melancholy, Sun Byul tried to lighten the mood.
‘You should go back to Korea just to see how it has changed in recent years.
Seoul looks like something from the future, but it still has its old charms.’ ‘I hope I can go in the summer,’ Sara said wistfully.
Sun Byul placed a hand on her hip.
‘Now you’ve made me nostalgic too, even though I go back almost every year.’ Sara glanced again at the two girls, their laughter and enthusiasm contagious.
‘Maybe I could do what those girls are doing, but with someone who lives there.’ ‘It’s a great idea.
It might ease your nostalgia,’ Sun Byul said encouragingly.
Sara nodded thoughtfully.
‘That way, I could stay updated on what’s happening there, what’s in fashion, and not feel like a foreigner when I visit.
I’ll look it up.
There must be a website for online exchanges.’ Sun Byul patted Sara’s shoulder.
‘Try it.
But for now, eat before your soup gets cold.’ As Sara lifted her spoon, the rich flavors of the soup enveloped her senses.
In that moment, the restaurant wasn’t just a place to eat but a portal to a part of her story she longed to reconnect with.
… SEOUL Nari stepped into her apartment, its quiet solitude greeting her like an intimate friend.
The ritual of unwinding began: her shoes abandoned near the threshold, the check the house´s humidity for the health of her plants and paintings, exchanging her tailored work attire for the comfort of well-worn pajamas.
In her apartment, the world shifted shedding the constraints of the day.
With a flick of her wrist, she opened her laptop, its glow spilling onto her face as a movie began to play.
The sound of dialogue filled the room silencing the silence that surrounded her.
Her phone buzzed on the nightstand, interrupting to the narrative unfolding on her screen.
She picked it up, the notification revealing a message from someone saved in her contacts as ‘Ugly Investigator.’ ‘We could meet this Saturday afternoon.
Is it okay with you?
Are you going to make me rediscover Seoul?’ A smile curled on Nari’s lips as she read the message.
‘Oh, how daring,’ she muttered to herself.
‘He has no photo on his profile.
So I was right—he’s ugly.’ The thought amused her, and with a quick flurry of thumb movements, she composed a message to her brother: ‘The ugly one is not a silly…’ Satisfied with her declaration, she sent the message and placed the phone on the nightstand.
The movie reclaimed her attention, its characters pulling her into their world.
But in the quiet moments between scenes, her thoughts wandered back to the faceless ‘Ugly Investigator.’ A faint ember of curiosity began to creep into his thoughts.
… BCN Sara sat at her desk in the office, her fingers moving rhythmically over the keyboard, the tap-tap-tap punctuating the room like the hypnotic march of time.
Her concentration was unbroken until a gentle knock at the door brought her back to the present.
She looked up to see her father, Dong-hyun, standing in the doorway, his face wearing its usual calm expression.
‘Sara, let’s go have coffee outside.
Are you coming with us?’ he asked, his tone warm tinged with the affection of a father who understood the language of interruptions.
Sara glanced at her mug, steam going up like a smooth ghost from the tea within.
She lifted it slightly.
‘Thanks, but today I’ll take my break here.
I already have my tea.’ Her father nodded.
‘Okay, see you later,’ he said before turning and leaving the room, the door clicking softly shut behind him.
As the sound of his footsteps faded, Sara’s focus returned to her computer screen.
The page open before her was not work-related but a language exchange website.
She leaned closer, her eyes scanning the profiles with the careful scrutiny of someone searching for a thread to connect her present to something familiar.
‘These two could be nice,’ she murmured to herself, her thoughts spilling into words.
‘This one is a little young…
but this one seems okay.
She lives in Seoul, she’s shy, and admits she doesn’t speak Spanish very well…
I like it.’ Her fingers hovered over the keyboard for a moment before she began to type a message.
Her expression was thoughtful, anticipating future possibilities.
… SEOUL Kim Nari walked home from the university, her steps light and leisurely.
The music in her headphones drowned the city’s chaos letting her mind floating elsewhere.
A sudden buzz in her pocket broke her rhythm.
She stopped, fished out her phone, and glanced at the screen.
‘¡Hola, soy Ramyeon!
¿Qué tal?
He leído tu perfil y quisiera hacer intercambio de idiomas coreano-español contigo.
¿Te parece bien?’ Her lips curled into a smile as she read the message.
The Spanish was friendly.
It looks he hadn´t taken much time to write the message.
Nari translated the words in her mind: ‘Hello, I’m Ramyeon!
How are you?
I have read your profile and would like to do a Korean-Spanish language exchange with you.
Is that okay?’ ‘He seems nice,’ Nari murmured, her voice barely audible over the music.
She slipped the phone back into her pocket but not before whispering to herself, ‘I hope he’s a girl.
I’d be so embarrassed with my Spanish if he were a boy…’ … BCN Next day, on the sun-dappled terrace of a café, Sara savored her morning with her father.
Their small wooden table was cluttered with empty plates and coffee cups, the remnants of a shared breakfast.
‘Alejandra asked if you’d come to eat at home on Sunday,’ Dong-Hyun began casually.
‘If you do, she’ll make paella.’ Sara’s eyes lit up, the very mention of the dish filling her with appetite.
‘Then I’ll go!’ she exclaimed, the joy in her voice infectious.
Her father chuckled, shaking his head.
‘You’re such a glutton.’ ‘What can I say?
Food is my greatest sin,’ she admitted.
‘And with good company, it’s even better.’ ‘Mmmhh,’ he mused, nodding in agreement.
‘Alexandra is a very good woman,’ Sara continued, her voice taking on a more reflective tone.
‘I don’t know what you’ve done in your life to have two such good women by your side.’ ‘Because I am also very good,’ Dong-Hyun replied with mock seriousness.
Sara shook her head, laughing.
‘You can’t say that about yourself.’ ‘I hate false modesty,’ he countered.
‘It’s unnecessary.’ ‘Well, you’ve certainly left Korean modesty far behind.’ ‘Maybe just that part,’ he said with a smirk, taking another bite of his food.
The conversation turned quiet for a moment, and Sara’s gaze grew distant.
‘I’ll come on Sunday,’ she said softly.
‘the truth is that I need to feel a bit of home, of family.’ Her voice was tinged with melancholy.
‘My roommate has been acting…
even more strange.
She hides, doesn’t speak much.
And lately, I’ve been feeling more nostalgic.’ She hesitated, pushing a crumb across her plate with her fork.
Dong-Hyun regarded her with a gentle, understanding look.
‘Do you miss your mother?’ he asked.
Her father knew her well.
Whenever Sara was like this, it meant she missed her mother—though she always tried to mask the absence with various excuses and reasons.
Sara nodded, her eyes glistening with unshed tears.
She blinked it away quickly and straightened in her chair, forcing a smile.
To hold back her tears, she decided to suddenly change the subject.
‘This afternoon, I’ll be in the office.
I don’t want anyone to bother me.’ ‘Do you have a meeting?’ ‘Yes, but it´s not for work,’ Sara admitted.
‘I’ve been looking for a language exchange with someone in Korea.’ ‘You already speak Korean perfectly,’ her father noted, curious.
‘But I don’t write it as well,’ she explained.
‘And it’s not just about the language.
I want to connect with someone who lives there.
You’ve already spent more time outside Korea than inside.
I need a link to my roots.’ ‘That seems fine to me,’ Dong-Hyun said after a pause.
‘I had to give up those roots.’ ‘Maybe you can have roots in different places,’ Sara mused.
Her father reached across the table, his smile warm.
‘Tesoro, you are living proof of it.’ … SEOUL – BCN Later that evening, Nari stood in her bedroom, adjusting her hair in the mirror.
She took a deep breath, steeling herself against the nervous energy bubbling within her.
It was almost 10 p.m., and she was about to embark on her first online language exchange call.
Her desk was meticulously organized, with her laptop open and a notebook and pen ready to capture every new Spanish word she’d learn.
‘It’s almost 10 p.m.
here,’ she said to herself.
‘In Spain, it must be 3 p.m.
He’s probably at work.’ She settled into her chair, adjusted the webcam, and tested her microphone, ensuring everything was just right.
Meanwhile, in Barcelona, the bold letters of a ‘DO NOT DISTURB’ sign adorned the door to Sara’s office.
Her secretary noted it with a nod, ensuring no one would interrupt.
As Dong-Hyun passed by, he paused briefly, his knowing smile lingering as he read the sign.
Inside, the soft trill of an incoming call filled the room.
Sara straightened in her chair, and the screen flickered to life.
Across the digital divide, Nari’s face appeared, her expression a mirror of Sara’s—a mixture of excitement and curiosity.