TAKEAWAY BRIDE
R
Whenever he has time on his hands, Ta Biak likes to read. His favourite place is a chair in the corner of the living room. This evening, he has already spent a couple of hours with a book, but right now something is bothering him. He can hear his sisters gossiping in the kitchen. Normally he wouldn’t listen to them, but they’re talking about Nu Bwai and a cousin of hers who has just returned from America. At the mention of Nu Bwai’s name, he leans over in his chair to hear better. If his sisters knew Ta Biak was eavesdropping, they’d have talked more quietly, not wanting to upset him. But they carry on, unaware that he’s hanging onto their every word. This cousin, Cung Cung, they say, came to Nu Bwai’s house last night and proposed to her. He even wants her to go live with him in America. *** Nu Bwai and Ta Biak are neighbours. They’ve been like sister and brother since childhood. They went to school together and played near each other’s houses every evening. After high school they attended different universities, but the special bond between them didn’t diminish. Come holiday breaks, the first place Ta Biak went was to Nu Bwai’s house. Nu Bwai is one of the prettiest girls in the district; some boys even think she looks like a Korean actress they
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