Róza
I always wanted to be a bride. There were times when I imagined myself in a beautiful white dress on the biggest day of my life. How it would feel to see that man at the altar who will be my partner, my protector, and my biggest supporter for the rest of my life. The way we will look into each other's eyes and we will cry because of the overwhelming happiness, and then we will thank fate that are able to be together.
Yeah, well...nothing like this happened.
Instead of my delusional dreams, tears of joy and thankful words, I stood in front of a completely strange man in a perfectly tailored suit, and he looked like someone who didn't have the word "smile" in his dictionary...or "being happy", one of the two.
And how did I end up in a situation like this? Let's start at the beginning.
I live in a small town in the middle of nowhere. My family has never been a part of the rich lifestyle. We had our share of struggles while I was growing up, but my parents always managed somehow to provide everything my little sister and I needed. Still, I felt like it couldn't go on like this. I am not a little kid anymore, I have to help my family somehow, and I have to help myself too. So I decided to look for a job abroad, in the hope for more money. I was slightly afraid since I never left my home country, but I had to start somewhere to make a change. That's where I found the ad that changed my ordinary life.
It looked really good. An assistant job in south korea. It felt silly to apply, since I didn't speak korean, had never been to Korea and basically I knew really little about the culture, but I still gave it a try, because why not. I didn't expect an answer anyway so I applied for some other jobs too, and with the hopeless peace of mind only rejection can bring, I shut my laptop.
After a few days later, I noticed an email rejected me from an assistant job. I was a bit sad but still held hope for the other job opportunities, so i just waited and waited, until suddenly, around three in the morning my phone started ringing. My heart almost jumped out of my body, and my eyes flew open immideately. I grabbed my phone and checked who it can be. Unknown number. I hesitated at first, but then I decided to pick up. Before I could say anything, an unfamiliar woman's voice spoke.
"Hello, I am looking for Miss Erdei Róza."
The woman on the other side said my name uncertainly. I didn't even had time to be suprised, I answered back in English.
"Yes, it's me." I tried to sound collected and confident, but at that moment I didn't know what universe I was in.
"Greetings, Miss. My name is Park Munhee from LUMORA Holdings and we saw your CV, which matches our expectations. Are you still interested?" For a moment, I froze. Lumora Holdings? Shit, i didn't remember which job this was, but I had to say something.
"Uhm, yes, sure! I am still interested!" I nodded heavily, even though I was alone and the woman saw nothing about this.
"Perfect! Then I will send you a link. You will have a video chat with the right people who will tell you everything you need to know!" I furrowed my brows as I looked at the clock. It was 3:45 AM. What the heck? What kind of company starts meetings in the middle of the night?
"All right, I will wait for the link." I said as my final word and after a quick goodbye the woman hung up. I let out the breath I had been holding in and quickly grabbed my laptop from my bedside table. I was still unsure, especially when I saw the link arrived immediately in my mailbox with a short message.
"Miss Erdei Roza,
Here is the link we talked about. Please open it exactly at 4 o'clock!
We wish you all the best!
The employees of LUMORA Holding."
Well, isn't it cute? I thought as I glanced at the clock again and it was 3:55 AM. Shit. I cursed and rushed to the mirror to fix my appearance.
As I looked at myself, I almost fell back in fear. My eyes were puffy like someone who had cried for hours, my skin shone with grease, even though it's normally not oily, and my hair just lived it's independent life as usual. Nothing suprising. Instead of more whining, I tried to make myself look presentable with some mascara and lipgloss, but the hair brush lost it's battle with my wild waves. I glanced at the clock again. It was already 4 o'clock. I frustratedly rushed back to my bed and jumped on it.
As I opened the link, I still desperately brushed my hair while my thoughts raced. "What if it's a scam, or what if it's a virus and now my computer will be completely destroyed and someone will steal all my information? But if I think about it, they'll be more bored reading informations about me than reading a literary classic, so never mind."
Suddenly, an older woman and man appeared on my screen. My heart suddenly stopped, just like the hairbrush in my hand.
"Hello Miss" The man spoke up. I think he spoke in korean, but the only word what i understood was "hello." All right, let's play along.
"Hello" I answered back in korean. Their eyes widened slightly. Suddenly the woman started speaking korean in a super fast way. I just listened nervously. I began nodding and smiling like an idiot as she contined. When she finally stopped, she smiled gently, and then silence fell. I looked at them, they looked at me. At least, were they blinking...
Suddenly the woman looked at the man next to her.
"Yeobo(darling), I think the program is frozen."
I had no idea what she meant, but I cleared my throat and switched to English.
"I'm sorry, but I don't speak korean"
As I said that, silence again. Awkward.
"Well, it's all right! No problem!" The man said with a small smile and then the woman mumbled something.
"She couldn't have said it sooner" The man glanced at her, then gave me an awkward smile.
"All right, Miss, I'm going to cut to the chase. There is no any job."