I'll Be Good For You, Ch. 11
Previously:
Chapter 1: Here's to the Night
Chapter 2: Maneater
Chapter 3: Know Your Enemy
Chapter 4: I Just Wanna Live
Chapter 5: Shark in the Water
Chapter 6: Sweet Talk, Sweet Talk
Chapter 7: Smooth Operator
Chapter 8: Gives You Hell
Chapter 9: Won't Get Fooled Again
Chapter 10: Science Fiction Double Feature
Disclaimer: The A.N.JELL-verse belongs to the Hong sisters, creators of You're Beautiful; and the KB Kookmin Bank and the Shilla Hotel to its stockholders.
Technical Notes: Just something regarding formatting - I hope this isn't confusing because I use italics for emphasis, but all conversation in English has also been italicized. Also, of course most of the A.N.JELL members know how to speak English! Jeremy taught them :)
Author's Notes: Thanks, as always, to akaironoyoru and lilivanilla1 for reviewing, and to those of you still following this story :)
Please also be informed that there won't be an update next week - I'll be going out of town with my family and Internet connectivity, if any, will be minimal. On the bright side, that gives me lots of time to just focus on writing, and hopefully I will have finished this fic by the time I get back! Updates will resume on Wednesdays as usual after January 1st. Happy holidays!
Chapter Eleven - Meeting (FT Island)
"You're wearing that?!"
Su-jin's gaze darted to the door as Ha-neul walked into her bedroom. "Yes," she said. Her eyes widened in panic. "Is anything wrong with it? What's wrong with it?"
"Nothing," her friend answered, chuckling. "You look great."
"Auughhhh!" Su-jin shrieked and threw a shoe at the other girl. "Don't do that to me!"
Ha-neul laughed and dodged the projectile. "Well, you say it to me all the time!"
"Don't say it to me tonight! I'm nervous enough as it is!"
She flopped down on her bed, which was piled with discarded clothing. Su-jin had bought a new outfit especially for that night's important dinner with Jeremy's parents, but panicked at the last minute and spent that morning pawing through her closet for alternatives. Dozens of costume changes later, she decided to wear what she had bought for the occasion in the first place.
"Come on, don't do that," Ha-neul begged. "You'll crumple your skirt. And please don't be nervous. You really do look wonderful. Like the perfect girlfriend."
"You really think so?" She looked down, her dangling gold earrings swinging against her cheeks, and smoothed the skirt of her dress, which was a demure pale peach with black lace accents to give it some edge.
"Yes, I do. And I'm sure Jeremy's parents will love you."
"I hope so."
Su-jin truly did, for Jeremy's sake. Even if they disagreed a lot, she knew that he wanted his parents' approval very badly and she sincerely wanted to get it for him. Based on what Jeremy had said, his mother was a cool mom and would probably like her. It was his father that was the problem. Lord James Maitland wasn't a cruel man, but his son had always found it hard to tell what he was thinking.
"You look very nice, too," she remembered to say then. "But I think you need a bangle or something. Want to borrow one?"
Ha-neul shook her head and waved off the offer. "I want to keep it simple. You're the star tonight, not me."
"What? You dressed down on purpose?" Su-jin's eyes misted over.
"Yes, but please don't cry about it. If you do, you'll ruin your makeup, and then you'll have to fix it, and then we'll be late. We still have to pick up the cake and flowers, remember?"
"Right." She laughed shakily. "We should get going."
Although the girls both had their own cars, Ha-neul had agreed to hitch a ride so that Su-jin wouldn't have to face Jeremy's parents alone. Arriving together would also provide a means of escape (with Ha-neul pleading to be taken home because she had an important appointment early the next day) if things got really bad.
Su-jin's mother, Kim Jae-hwa, was doing some embroidery in the living room and looked up when the girls entered on their way to the front door. "Don't you girls look lovely!" the plump, gray-haired lady exclaimed. "Are you going to a club?"
"No, Omma," Su-jin answered as she and Ha-neul donned their coats and shoes. "Just having dinner."
"It looks like it's a pretty fancy dinner."
She had no idea what they would be eating, but knew that they would have some fancy guests, at least. "Yeah, I guess it is."
Her mother's eyes twinkled. "Will anyone special be at this dinner?"
"Maybe," she admitted, blushing.
"Well, if he is, we're going to have to meet him. Yours, too, Ha-neul," Mrs. Moon added, wagging her needle at the other girl. "Just because your mother's not around doesn't mean you can sneak around with some random guy behind your father's back."
Ha-neul laughed. "Not to worry, Auntie. Appa has met my boyfriend already, but if you want to meet him, too, then I'll introduce him to you sometime."
By now, Su-jin was strongly tempted to run back to her room and lock herself in, but she managed to say, "We should get going. I'll see you later, Omma."
"Goodbye, girls. Have fun, but don't stay out too late!"
Su-jin's heart was in her throat when she and Ha-neul walked up to the door with their cake and flowers, and rang the bell. Almost instantly, they heard scrabbling footsteps and Jeremy's voice crying "That's them! They're here!" from inside. Ha-neul laughed quietly, but Su-jin didn't know whether to be amused or annoyed that he was acting so silly.
A wild-eyed Jeremy yanked the door open. "Hi," he greeted the girls, sounding like this was a top-secret mission instead of a family visit. "Come in. They're in the music room."
After hustling them inside and helping them with their things, the redheaded boy dashed to the kitchen to put the cake in the refrigerator. Su-jin was just beginning to follow Ha-neul, who was carrying the flowers, downstairs to the music room when Jeremy barred her way. "Wait," he said softly. "Before we go downstairs... I want to give you something."
The "something" turned out to be a bracelet of heavy gold links, decorated with colorful butterfly charms. "I picked it out myself," he said as he fastened it around her wrist.
It didn't match her outfit as well as the gold-and-black cuff she had been wearing, but Su-jin took off the cuff and stowed it in her purse. "Thank you, Jeremy. It's beautiful."
"Thanks for doing this." He took her hand in both of his and squeezed it. "Come on, let's go."
They entered the music room in time to hear a female voice speak her name.
"Su-jin? My, you're a tall girl, aren't you?" the voice continued in English. The speaker was a slender woman who looked just a little older than the girls. Her hair was in a neat bob, and she wore a dark blue, long-sleeved cocktail dress. Beside her sat a brown-haired man in an expensive suit who had to be Lord Maitland, Jeremy's father; there was a resemblance around the nose and chin.
Ha-neul's eyes grew wide and Shin-woo hastened to set things straight. "Uh, Auntie," he said, also in English, obviously for Lord Maitland's benefit, "this is my girlfriend, So Ha-neul."
"Oh," Lady Maitland said without batting an eyelash, and smoothly switched to Korean. "How nice. You're the one who models for Eun-hee unni, right?"
Ha-neul nodded. "It's nice to meet you." She said the same thing in English to Jeremy's father, and looked around wildly for her friend.
She managed to hand Su-jin the flowers just as Jeremy led her forward. "Dad, Mum," he said, the foreign words flowing smoothly from his lips, "I'd like you to meet Moon Su-jin."
Su-jin willed herself to smile charmingly at Jeremy's parents. "Hello," she said, sounding out the words carefully. "Good evening."
His father acknowledged her greeting with a polite nod. "It's a pleasure, Miss Moon."
Jeremy's mother, on the other hand, beamed and rose to take Su-jin's hand from her son. "We're so happy to meet you at last," the older woman said, and added something that Su-jin couldn't understand.
She wanted to just ignore it, but was afraid that it was something she would have to answer. "Sorry," she said, blushing. "Please repeat that?"
Lady Maitland nodded understandingly and repeated herself, but in Korean. "I said that we're so happy to meet you at last," she said kindly. "Jeremy has told us so much about you."
"Oh." Su-jin wanted to shoot him a suspicious look, but couldn't very well do that in front of his mother and decided to just smile instead. Then she remembered that she was still holding the flowers and presented them to the held them out to Jeremy's mother. "These are for you," she said, hoping that it was all right to speak in Korean. She was directly addressing Lady Maitland anyway, and she was far too tongue-tied to think of the proper English words, let alone speak them.
"Thank you!" The older woman accepted the bouquet, the largest that Su-jin could afford, with a gracious smile. "They're beautiful. Could you put these in water, Jeremy?" she asked her son. "I think they'll look wonderful at the dinner table."
Jeremy looked poleaxed as his mother handed him the flowers. "Uh-"
"While we're waiting for you to come back," Lady Maitland added, "Su-jin and I will get to know each other better. Come, dear, sit with me."
The older woman was already starting to tow Su-jin towards where she had been sitting with Jeremy's father, so Su-jin had no choice but to follow. She sent Jeremy a frantic look over her shoulder, but all he could do was send her a terrified look back before fleeing with the flowers.
Jeremy was glad that his bandmates and their girlfriends were present that evening, because if it was just him, Su-jin and his parents, he was sure he would have gone crazy. Everyone was on their best behavior and those who were able gamely made conversation in English so that Jeremy's father, who understood Korean much better than he could speak it, didn't have to sit mutely through dinner.
They talked about Lord and Lady Maitland's plans for while they were in Korea. Besides visiting their son, Lady Maitland also wanted to visit her parents' graves and childhood friends near Daejeon. She and her husband would also make the rounds of their favorite museums in Seoul, and of course watch the A.N.JELL mini-concert that would be held while they were in town.
"I hope you can come, too, Su-jin," Jeremy's mother said, smiling.
Jeremy smiled, too. His mother was nice to everyone, but she seemed to be making an extra effort with Su-jin. Perhaps she was doing it because Su-jin was the girl her son liked, but he hoped it was also partly because Lady Maitland liked Su-jin as a person.
"I'm working," Su-jin answered politely, "but I'll try."
"What is it you do, Miss Moon?" Lord Maitland asked her then. "What kind of job do you have?"
"I'm an...." She looked around imploringly at her friends. "Analyst?"
Ha-neul nodded. "I think that's the right word."
"I'm an analyst at the KB Kookmin Bank," Su-jin said, turning back to Jeremy's father.
"That's the biggest bank in Korea, Dad," Jeremy added.
Lord Maitland nodded slowly, but he didn't say "Wow!" like Jeremy's mother did, or make the "impressed" face he made whenever one of Jeremy's uncles bragged about something. "Very nice. Do you like your work?"
Su-jin nodded. "It's a good job. Regular, but... we study different things all the time."
There was The Nod again, followed by a small smile. "You speak very good English, if you don't mind my saying."
She smiled and ducked her head. "Thank you. It's not perfect," she said humbly, "but I know some."
"Where did you learn to speak so well?"
"From school. I took some English classes in school, and also from playing basketball abroad."
Here, Jeremy saw another opportunity to try and impress his father. "Remember, Dad, I told you that Su-jin was in the Beijing Olympics? She and Ha-neul were teammates. And they won a big international tournament, too."
"The FIBA Asian Championship," Ha-neul supplied, and have her friend a teasing nudge. "The newspapers called Su-jin the best point guard in Asia." Jeremy shot her a grateful look and she smiled back.
"Really?" Lady Maitland gasped. "That's wonderful!"
On the other hand, instead of being impressed, her husband wanted to know, "Why didn't you keep playing?"
"I had to finish college and get a good job," Su-jin answered. "To support my mother and father."
Lord Maitland frowned, and Jeremy held his breath. "They're not working?"
She shook her head. "They're retired."
That sounded like a perfectly good explanation for why Su-jin's parents weren't working, but of course Jeremy's father had to keep asking questions. "No brothers or sisters?"
She paused. "I had a brother," she said finally. "He died."
Silence fell over the table. Jeremy started at his plate, his cheeks burning. He hadn't known that. On the bright side, it stumped his father, too. "I'm very sorry for your loss," he said quietly.
But not for long. "Where did you go to school?"
Su-jin knew that she had worked herself into a panic over meeting Jeremy's parents, but dinner had turned out to be just one long job interview. She hoped she was able to answer Lord Maitland properly, because she hadn't completely understood some of the things he had said and just guessed based on the words that she did know. Jeremy was right; it was very hard to tell what his father was thinking.
Honestly, she thought as she glanced at the redheaded boy in the front seat, it was hard to tell what Jeremy was thinking right now, too.
Even though she didn't really want to, Su-jin took the scenic route to the Shilla Hotel, where Jeremy's parents were staying, so that they could see the city at night, and was glad when they finally pulled up outside the lobby.
"Thank you so much for the lovely ride," Lady Maitland said as they all got out of the car to say their goodnights.
Su-jin's answering smile was genuine, due partly to her relief that the evening was over, but also because Jeremy's mother was a truly nice woman. (Fortunately, Jeremy had inherited much of his personality from her, but she wasn't going to tell him that.) "You're welcome." She bowed politely to the older woman and her husband. "It was nice to meet the both of you."
"We will see you again, won't we?"
"Definitely," Jeremy declared as he handed his mother her flowers, which he had arranged in a plastic pitcher, the only container he had managed to find. He said something else that Su-jin didn't catch, but it sounded like he was making more promises to bring her along to wherever they were going.
"Good night, Jeremy." His mother kissed him on the cheek and, to Su-jin's surprise, gave her a kiss as well. "Good night, Su-jin."
"Good night." She was afraid that Lord Maitland would kiss her, too, but he just shook her hand when he wished her good night. He shook Jeremy's hand, too, but at least he also patted his son's shoulder.
She and Jeremy waved and waited for Lord and Lady Maitland to enter the glittering lobby. "Do you need to go back right away?" he asked when his parents were finally gone.
"Uh...." Su-jin stole a glance at him and saw that he wasn't smiling. "I don't think so. Why?"
"I want to go somewhere."
A short drive later, they were boarding a green bus near the ice cream parlor where Jeremy had told her he wanted to be her boyfriend for real. "We could have driven to wherever you wanted to go," Su-jin said as she followed him down the aisle, to a pair of seats near the back.
"This is where I wanted to go."
It was a typically Jeremy thing to say, but he sounded sad and tired as he said it; and Su-jin was too tired herself to start one of their usual arguments. "Oh," she said. "OK."
They sat down, and the bus started to move. She glanced at him, knowing that something was definitely wrong, but he sat silently, staring straight ahead.
"I'm sorry about your brother," Jeremy said after a while.
"It's all right," she answered. "It happened a long time ago."
"What was his name? What happened?"
"His name was Su-hyun. It was a car accident."
"I'm sorry." His hand covered hers and squeezed. "And I'm sorry that my dad interrogated you so much."
"It wasn't so bad," Su-jin assured him. "It felt kind of like a job interview, but with food."
He laughed briefly at that. "I wanted it to be a nice dinner."
She wanted to say that it had been a nice dinner, but she honestly hadn't noticed the food on her plate or whether she had eaten any of it. "Well, we couldn't avoid the questions," she said instead. "This is the first time your parents are meeting me, after all. Besides," she added, "he's a dad. I'm sure that when-if I ever introduce you to my dad, he would do the same thing."
Fortunately for her, Jeremy seemed to be too caught up in his own thoughts to have noticed her little slip. "No," he said. "I'm sure your dad would be protective of you so he'll ask some tough questions, but he wouldn't be a snob like my dad was tonight."
"Your dad wasn't being a snob."
"Believe me, he was," he said harshly. "If you were a daughter of one of his friends back home, he wouldn't have talked to you like that. He was trying to make it clear that you're not good enough." He swallowed hard. "That I'm not good enough."
She laid a hand on his arm. "Jeremy...."
"I know he's not all bad," he said. "I'm sure Dad used to be cool - after all, he married someone like my mom, right? But they settled in Europe instead of coming to live here."
"How could that be bad?"
"What they said in my legend is true," Jeremy went on, as though he hadn't heard her. "My grandfather is a Scottish aristocrat, the Earl of Lauderdale. I'm not going to inherit the title because Dad is the third son, and I don't care about it at all, but my dad sure does. Even if he won't ever become earl, he's always been concerned about being as rich and successful as his hyungs. He has to have a nice house in London, his wife has to always be beautiful." He sighed. "And his kids have to be perfect.
"Do you know why I came to Korea? Because I got kicked out of school. Dad put me and my sister in some fancy school where our family has been going for hundreds of years, and I hated it there. I admit it, I behaved badly, always fighting and getting into trouble, but that school tried to make everyone the same. We had stupid uniforms and all these strict rules, and the food was terrible." His voice trembled. "There were days when I thought I would rather tear out all my hair than get out of bed in the morning."
Su-jin made a sympathetic noise. Jeremy was silly about lots of things, but this was something she could actually understand. He prided himself on being a total original, and she could imagine how much he would hate a school like that.
"Dad was really mad, but I'm not sorry I left that school and got sent here," he declared. "I love Korea, and I'm doing very well with A.N.JELL." He slumped in his seat, his eyes bright. "But whenever my dad comes here, I start feeling like I'm not good enough all over again."
Su-jin looked away as a tear rolled down Jeremy's cheek. Wordlessly, she dug inside her bag and handed him her handkerchief, then waited in silence as he dabbed at his eyes. "I don't want to disrespect your dad," she began quietly, "but I don't care if he thinks that I'm not good enough for you."
"Well, you are!"
Her cheeks grew warm at the insistent note in his voice, but she shrugged. "I think that the important thing is that I'm good enough for myself," she said. "And as for you feeling like you're not good enough, I think you should remember that you're your father's only son, so I don't think he has any choice." She smiled. "Besides, if he doesn't want you, I think every family in Korea who would be happy to have you for a son. OK?"
He laughed shakily. "OK."
Su-jin leaned closer. She had meant to give him a consoling kiss on the cheek, but Jeremy turned his head at the last moment so that their lips met instead.
They pulled away quickly and she saw stars when her head hit the window. "Ouch!"
"Are you all right?" he asked, reaching over to rub the back of her head.
"I'm fine." She blinked hard to avoid having to meet his eyes. "Sorry about that."
"I'm sorry, too."
That made her turn to him in surprise, which turned out to be a bad move, because the look in his eyes made her heart start to race. "What?"
"I said I was sorry." Jeremy stroked her hair, twining his fingers in the curls. "That wasn't much of a kiss."
Su-jin's eyes were wide and, as he edged closer, he prayed silently that she wouldn't bolt. Exhilaration rushed through him when her eyes fluttered closed and he settled his lips over hers. Her hands came up, but instead of pushing him away her hands gripped his shoulders, and he put his arms around her, deepening the kiss.
"Wow," she said in a dazed voice when they finally came up for air.
He couldn't help grinning at that. "I know."
Despite his earlier dejection, Jeremy felt on top of the world when he and Su-jin got off at their stop. He was sure that the bus ride had a lot to do with it, but most of the credit probably belonged to that kiss and the fact that he and Su-jin were currently walking hand-in-hand.
"So, that was your magic bus?" she asked.
He nodded cheerfully. "It may sound silly to you, but I always feel better after I ride it."
"It's nice to be able to sit in a quiet place and think things over," she agreed. "Are you feeling better now?"
"I'm feeling a lot better," Jeremy confirmed, beaming. He knew she would understand. "Also, I'm hungry."
Su-jin laughed. "You're always hungry. Luckily for you, I'm hungry, too. Come on, I'll treat you to some ice cream. I haven't been back to that place you showed me last time, and I've been dreaming about the strawberry ice cream ever since."
"I told you it was good," he said. "Does this mean you're my real girlfriend now?"
She ducked her head, cheeks turning pink. "I'm getting there, Jeremy, I really am," she admitted, "but I need a little more time."
"I just thought I'd ask," he said, chuckling good-naturedly. OK, so his magic bus wasn't 100% successful. He could live with that. "But I'm still allowed to kiss you, right?"
Her blush deepened. "Maybe. Sometimes."
"That works for me, too."
They made their way to the ice cream parlor, joined hands swinging as they walked, blissfully unaware that they were being watched.
Chapter 1: Here's to the Night
Chapter 2: Maneater
Chapter 3: Know Your Enemy
Chapter 4: I Just Wanna Live
Chapter 5: Shark in the Water
Chapter 6: Sweet Talk, Sweet Talk
Chapter 7: Smooth Operator
Chapter 8: Gives You Hell
Chapter 9: Won't Get Fooled Again
Chapter 10: Science Fiction Double Feature
Disclaimer: The A.N.JELL-verse belongs to the Hong sisters, creators of You're Beautiful; and the KB Kookmin Bank and the Shilla Hotel to its stockholders.
Technical Notes: Just something regarding formatting - I hope this isn't confusing because I use italics for emphasis, but all conversation in English has also been italicized. Also, of course most of the A.N.JELL members know how to speak English! Jeremy taught them :)
Author's Notes: Thanks, as always, to akaironoyoru and lilivanilla1 for reviewing, and to those of you still following this story :)
Please also be informed that there won't be an update next week - I'll be going out of town with my family and Internet connectivity, if any, will be minimal. On the bright side, that gives me lots of time to just focus on writing, and hopefully I will have finished this fic by the time I get back! Updates will resume on Wednesdays as usual after January 1st. Happy holidays!
Chapter Eleven - Meeting (FT Island)
"You're wearing that?!"
Su-jin's gaze darted to the door as Ha-neul walked into her bedroom. "Yes," she said. Her eyes widened in panic. "Is anything wrong with it? What's wrong with it?"
"Nothing," her friend answered, chuckling. "You look great."
"Auughhhh!" Su-jin shrieked and threw a shoe at the other girl. "Don't do that to me!"
Ha-neul laughed and dodged the projectile. "Well, you say it to me all the time!"
"Don't say it to me tonight! I'm nervous enough as it is!"
She flopped down on her bed, which was piled with discarded clothing. Su-jin had bought a new outfit especially for that night's important dinner with Jeremy's parents, but panicked at the last minute and spent that morning pawing through her closet for alternatives. Dozens of costume changes later, she decided to wear what she had bought for the occasion in the first place.
"Come on, don't do that," Ha-neul begged. "You'll crumple your skirt. And please don't be nervous. You really do look wonderful. Like the perfect girlfriend."
"You really think so?" She looked down, her dangling gold earrings swinging against her cheeks, and smoothed the skirt of her dress, which was a demure pale peach with black lace accents to give it some edge.
"Yes, I do. And I'm sure Jeremy's parents will love you."
"I hope so."
Su-jin truly did, for Jeremy's sake. Even if they disagreed a lot, she knew that he wanted his parents' approval very badly and she sincerely wanted to get it for him. Based on what Jeremy had said, his mother was a cool mom and would probably like her. It was his father that was the problem. Lord James Maitland wasn't a cruel man, but his son had always found it hard to tell what he was thinking.
"You look very nice, too," she remembered to say then. "But I think you need a bangle or something. Want to borrow one?"
Ha-neul shook her head and waved off the offer. "I want to keep it simple. You're the star tonight, not me."
"What? You dressed down on purpose?" Su-jin's eyes misted over.
"Yes, but please don't cry about it. If you do, you'll ruin your makeup, and then you'll have to fix it, and then we'll be late. We still have to pick up the cake and flowers, remember?"
"Right." She laughed shakily. "We should get going."
Although the girls both had their own cars, Ha-neul had agreed to hitch a ride so that Su-jin wouldn't have to face Jeremy's parents alone. Arriving together would also provide a means of escape (with Ha-neul pleading to be taken home because she had an important appointment early the next day) if things got really bad.
Su-jin's mother, Kim Jae-hwa, was doing some embroidery in the living room and looked up when the girls entered on their way to the front door. "Don't you girls look lovely!" the plump, gray-haired lady exclaimed. "Are you going to a club?"
"No, Omma," Su-jin answered as she and Ha-neul donned their coats and shoes. "Just having dinner."
"It looks like it's a pretty fancy dinner."
She had no idea what they would be eating, but knew that they would have some fancy guests, at least. "Yeah, I guess it is."
Her mother's eyes twinkled. "Will anyone special be at this dinner?"
"Maybe," she admitted, blushing.
"Well, if he is, we're going to have to meet him. Yours, too, Ha-neul," Mrs. Moon added, wagging her needle at the other girl. "Just because your mother's not around doesn't mean you can sneak around with some random guy behind your father's back."
Ha-neul laughed. "Not to worry, Auntie. Appa has met my boyfriend already, but if you want to meet him, too, then I'll introduce him to you sometime."
By now, Su-jin was strongly tempted to run back to her room and lock herself in, but she managed to say, "We should get going. I'll see you later, Omma."
"Goodbye, girls. Have fun, but don't stay out too late!"
Su-jin's heart was in her throat when she and Ha-neul walked up to the door with their cake and flowers, and rang the bell. Almost instantly, they heard scrabbling footsteps and Jeremy's voice crying "That's them! They're here!" from inside. Ha-neul laughed quietly, but Su-jin didn't know whether to be amused or annoyed that he was acting so silly.
A wild-eyed Jeremy yanked the door open. "Hi," he greeted the girls, sounding like this was a top-secret mission instead of a family visit. "Come in. They're in the music room."
After hustling them inside and helping them with their things, the redheaded boy dashed to the kitchen to put the cake in the refrigerator. Su-jin was just beginning to follow Ha-neul, who was carrying the flowers, downstairs to the music room when Jeremy barred her way. "Wait," he said softly. "Before we go downstairs... I want to give you something."
The "something" turned out to be a bracelet of heavy gold links, decorated with colorful butterfly charms. "I picked it out myself," he said as he fastened it around her wrist.
It didn't match her outfit as well as the gold-and-black cuff she had been wearing, but Su-jin took off the cuff and stowed it in her purse. "Thank you, Jeremy. It's beautiful."
"Thanks for doing this." He took her hand in both of his and squeezed it. "Come on, let's go."
They entered the music room in time to hear a female voice speak her name.
"Su-jin? My, you're a tall girl, aren't you?" the voice continued in English. The speaker was a slender woman who looked just a little older than the girls. Her hair was in a neat bob, and she wore a dark blue, long-sleeved cocktail dress. Beside her sat a brown-haired man in an expensive suit who had to be Lord Maitland, Jeremy's father; there was a resemblance around the nose and chin.
Ha-neul's eyes grew wide and Shin-woo hastened to set things straight. "Uh, Auntie," he said, also in English, obviously for Lord Maitland's benefit, "this is my girlfriend, So Ha-neul."
"Oh," Lady Maitland said without batting an eyelash, and smoothly switched to Korean. "How nice. You're the one who models for Eun-hee unni, right?"
Ha-neul nodded. "It's nice to meet you." She said the same thing in English to Jeremy's father, and looked around wildly for her friend.
She managed to hand Su-jin the flowers just as Jeremy led her forward. "Dad, Mum," he said, the foreign words flowing smoothly from his lips, "I'd like you to meet Moon Su-jin."
Su-jin willed herself to smile charmingly at Jeremy's parents. "Hello," she said, sounding out the words carefully. "Good evening."
His father acknowledged her greeting with a polite nod. "It's a pleasure, Miss Moon."
Jeremy's mother, on the other hand, beamed and rose to take Su-jin's hand from her son. "We're so happy to meet you at last," the older woman said, and added something that Su-jin couldn't understand.
She wanted to just ignore it, but was afraid that it was something she would have to answer. "Sorry," she said, blushing. "Please repeat that?"
Lady Maitland nodded understandingly and repeated herself, but in Korean. "I said that we're so happy to meet you at last," she said kindly. "Jeremy has told us so much about you."
"Oh." Su-jin wanted to shoot him a suspicious look, but couldn't very well do that in front of his mother and decided to just smile instead. Then she remembered that she was still holding the flowers and presented them to the held them out to Jeremy's mother. "These are for you," she said, hoping that it was all right to speak in Korean. She was directly addressing Lady Maitland anyway, and she was far too tongue-tied to think of the proper English words, let alone speak them.
"Thank you!" The older woman accepted the bouquet, the largest that Su-jin could afford, with a gracious smile. "They're beautiful. Could you put these in water, Jeremy?" she asked her son. "I think they'll look wonderful at the dinner table."
Jeremy looked poleaxed as his mother handed him the flowers. "Uh-"
"While we're waiting for you to come back," Lady Maitland added, "Su-jin and I will get to know each other better. Come, dear, sit with me."
The older woman was already starting to tow Su-jin towards where she had been sitting with Jeremy's father, so Su-jin had no choice but to follow. She sent Jeremy a frantic look over her shoulder, but all he could do was send her a terrified look back before fleeing with the flowers.
Jeremy was glad that his bandmates and their girlfriends were present that evening, because if it was just him, Su-jin and his parents, he was sure he would have gone crazy. Everyone was on their best behavior and those who were able gamely made conversation in English so that Jeremy's father, who understood Korean much better than he could speak it, didn't have to sit mutely through dinner.
They talked about Lord and Lady Maitland's plans for while they were in Korea. Besides visiting their son, Lady Maitland also wanted to visit her parents' graves and childhood friends near Daejeon. She and her husband would also make the rounds of their favorite museums in Seoul, and of course watch the A.N.JELL mini-concert that would be held while they were in town.
"I hope you can come, too, Su-jin," Jeremy's mother said, smiling.
Jeremy smiled, too. His mother was nice to everyone, but she seemed to be making an extra effort with Su-jin. Perhaps she was doing it because Su-jin was the girl her son liked, but he hoped it was also partly because Lady Maitland liked Su-jin as a person.
"I'm working," Su-jin answered politely, "but I'll try."
"What is it you do, Miss Moon?" Lord Maitland asked her then. "What kind of job do you have?"
"I'm an...." She looked around imploringly at her friends. "Analyst?"
Ha-neul nodded. "I think that's the right word."
"I'm an analyst at the KB Kookmin Bank," Su-jin said, turning back to Jeremy's father.
"That's the biggest bank in Korea, Dad," Jeremy added.
Lord Maitland nodded slowly, but he didn't say "Wow!" like Jeremy's mother did, or make the "impressed" face he made whenever one of Jeremy's uncles bragged about something. "Very nice. Do you like your work?"
Su-jin nodded. "It's a good job. Regular, but... we study different things all the time."
There was The Nod again, followed by a small smile. "You speak very good English, if you don't mind my saying."
She smiled and ducked her head. "Thank you. It's not perfect," she said humbly, "but I know some."
"Where did you learn to speak so well?"
"From school. I took some English classes in school, and also from playing basketball abroad."
Here, Jeremy saw another opportunity to try and impress his father. "Remember, Dad, I told you that Su-jin was in the Beijing Olympics? She and Ha-neul were teammates. And they won a big international tournament, too."
"The FIBA Asian Championship," Ha-neul supplied, and have her friend a teasing nudge. "The newspapers called Su-jin the best point guard in Asia." Jeremy shot her a grateful look and she smiled back.
"Really?" Lady Maitland gasped. "That's wonderful!"
On the other hand, instead of being impressed, her husband wanted to know, "Why didn't you keep playing?"
"I had to finish college and get a good job," Su-jin answered. "To support my mother and father."
Lord Maitland frowned, and Jeremy held his breath. "They're not working?"
She shook her head. "They're retired."
That sounded like a perfectly good explanation for why Su-jin's parents weren't working, but of course Jeremy's father had to keep asking questions. "No brothers or sisters?"
She paused. "I had a brother," she said finally. "He died."
Silence fell over the table. Jeremy started at his plate, his cheeks burning. He hadn't known that. On the bright side, it stumped his father, too. "I'm very sorry for your loss," he said quietly.
But not for long. "Where did you go to school?"
Su-jin knew that she had worked herself into a panic over meeting Jeremy's parents, but dinner had turned out to be just one long job interview. She hoped she was able to answer Lord Maitland properly, because she hadn't completely understood some of the things he had said and just guessed based on the words that she did know. Jeremy was right; it was very hard to tell what his father was thinking.
Honestly, she thought as she glanced at the redheaded boy in the front seat, it was hard to tell what Jeremy was thinking right now, too.
Even though she didn't really want to, Su-jin took the scenic route to the Shilla Hotel, where Jeremy's parents were staying, so that they could see the city at night, and was glad when they finally pulled up outside the lobby.
"Thank you so much for the lovely ride," Lady Maitland said as they all got out of the car to say their goodnights.
Su-jin's answering smile was genuine, due partly to her relief that the evening was over, but also because Jeremy's mother was a truly nice woman. (Fortunately, Jeremy had inherited much of his personality from her, but she wasn't going to tell him that.) "You're welcome." She bowed politely to the older woman and her husband. "It was nice to meet the both of you."
"We will see you again, won't we?"
"Definitely," Jeremy declared as he handed his mother her flowers, which he had arranged in a plastic pitcher, the only container he had managed to find. He said something else that Su-jin didn't catch, but it sounded like he was making more promises to bring her along to wherever they were going.
"Good night, Jeremy." His mother kissed him on the cheek and, to Su-jin's surprise, gave her a kiss as well. "Good night, Su-jin."
"Good night." She was afraid that Lord Maitland would kiss her, too, but he just shook her hand when he wished her good night. He shook Jeremy's hand, too, but at least he also patted his son's shoulder.
She and Jeremy waved and waited for Lord and Lady Maitland to enter the glittering lobby. "Do you need to go back right away?" he asked when his parents were finally gone.
"Uh...." Su-jin stole a glance at him and saw that he wasn't smiling. "I don't think so. Why?"
"I want to go somewhere."
A short drive later, they were boarding a green bus near the ice cream parlor where Jeremy had told her he wanted to be her boyfriend for real. "We could have driven to wherever you wanted to go," Su-jin said as she followed him down the aisle, to a pair of seats near the back.
"This is where I wanted to go."
It was a typically Jeremy thing to say, but he sounded sad and tired as he said it; and Su-jin was too tired herself to start one of their usual arguments. "Oh," she said. "OK."
They sat down, and the bus started to move. She glanced at him, knowing that something was definitely wrong, but he sat silently, staring straight ahead.
"I'm sorry about your brother," Jeremy said after a while.
"It's all right," she answered. "It happened a long time ago."
"What was his name? What happened?"
"His name was Su-hyun. It was a car accident."
"I'm sorry." His hand covered hers and squeezed. "And I'm sorry that my dad interrogated you so much."
"It wasn't so bad," Su-jin assured him. "It felt kind of like a job interview, but with food."
He laughed briefly at that. "I wanted it to be a nice dinner."
She wanted to say that it had been a nice dinner, but she honestly hadn't noticed the food on her plate or whether she had eaten any of it. "Well, we couldn't avoid the questions," she said instead. "This is the first time your parents are meeting me, after all. Besides," she added, "he's a dad. I'm sure that when-if I ever introduce you to my dad, he would do the same thing."
Fortunately for her, Jeremy seemed to be too caught up in his own thoughts to have noticed her little slip. "No," he said. "I'm sure your dad would be protective of you so he'll ask some tough questions, but he wouldn't be a snob like my dad was tonight."
"Your dad wasn't being a snob."
"Believe me, he was," he said harshly. "If you were a daughter of one of his friends back home, he wouldn't have talked to you like that. He was trying to make it clear that you're not good enough." He swallowed hard. "That I'm not good enough."
She laid a hand on his arm. "Jeremy...."
"I know he's not all bad," he said. "I'm sure Dad used to be cool - after all, he married someone like my mom, right? But they settled in Europe instead of coming to live here."
"How could that be bad?"
"What they said in my legend is true," Jeremy went on, as though he hadn't heard her. "My grandfather is a Scottish aristocrat, the Earl of Lauderdale. I'm not going to inherit the title because Dad is the third son, and I don't care about it at all, but my dad sure does. Even if he won't ever become earl, he's always been concerned about being as rich and successful as his hyungs. He has to have a nice house in London, his wife has to always be beautiful." He sighed. "And his kids have to be perfect.
"Do you know why I came to Korea? Because I got kicked out of school. Dad put me and my sister in some fancy school where our family has been going for hundreds of years, and I hated it there. I admit it, I behaved badly, always fighting and getting into trouble, but that school tried to make everyone the same. We had stupid uniforms and all these strict rules, and the food was terrible." His voice trembled. "There were days when I thought I would rather tear out all my hair than get out of bed in the morning."
Su-jin made a sympathetic noise. Jeremy was silly about lots of things, but this was something she could actually understand. He prided himself on being a total original, and she could imagine how much he would hate a school like that.
"Dad was really mad, but I'm not sorry I left that school and got sent here," he declared. "I love Korea, and I'm doing very well with A.N.JELL." He slumped in his seat, his eyes bright. "But whenever my dad comes here, I start feeling like I'm not good enough all over again."
Su-jin looked away as a tear rolled down Jeremy's cheek. Wordlessly, she dug inside her bag and handed him her handkerchief, then waited in silence as he dabbed at his eyes. "I don't want to disrespect your dad," she began quietly, "but I don't care if he thinks that I'm not good enough for you."
"Well, you are!"
Her cheeks grew warm at the insistent note in his voice, but she shrugged. "I think that the important thing is that I'm good enough for myself," she said. "And as for you feeling like you're not good enough, I think you should remember that you're your father's only son, so I don't think he has any choice." She smiled. "Besides, if he doesn't want you, I think every family in Korea who would be happy to have you for a son. OK?"
He laughed shakily. "OK."
Su-jin leaned closer. She had meant to give him a consoling kiss on the cheek, but Jeremy turned his head at the last moment so that their lips met instead.
They pulled away quickly and she saw stars when her head hit the window. "Ouch!"
"Are you all right?" he asked, reaching over to rub the back of her head.
"I'm fine." She blinked hard to avoid having to meet his eyes. "Sorry about that."
"I'm sorry, too."
That made her turn to him in surprise, which turned out to be a bad move, because the look in his eyes made her heart start to race. "What?"
"I said I was sorry." Jeremy stroked her hair, twining his fingers in the curls. "That wasn't much of a kiss."
Su-jin's eyes were wide and, as he edged closer, he prayed silently that she wouldn't bolt. Exhilaration rushed through him when her eyes fluttered closed and he settled his lips over hers. Her hands came up, but instead of pushing him away her hands gripped his shoulders, and he put his arms around her, deepening the kiss.
"Wow," she said in a dazed voice when they finally came up for air.
He couldn't help grinning at that. "I know."
Despite his earlier dejection, Jeremy felt on top of the world when he and Su-jin got off at their stop. He was sure that the bus ride had a lot to do with it, but most of the credit probably belonged to that kiss and the fact that he and Su-jin were currently walking hand-in-hand.
"So, that was your magic bus?" she asked.
He nodded cheerfully. "It may sound silly to you, but I always feel better after I ride it."
"It's nice to be able to sit in a quiet place and think things over," she agreed. "Are you feeling better now?"
"I'm feeling a lot better," Jeremy confirmed, beaming. He knew she would understand. "Also, I'm hungry."
Su-jin laughed. "You're always hungry. Luckily for you, I'm hungry, too. Come on, I'll treat you to some ice cream. I haven't been back to that place you showed me last time, and I've been dreaming about the strawberry ice cream ever since."
"I told you it was good," he said. "Does this mean you're my real girlfriend now?"
She ducked her head, cheeks turning pink. "I'm getting there, Jeremy, I really am," she admitted, "but I need a little more time."
"I just thought I'd ask," he said, chuckling good-naturedly. OK, so his magic bus wasn't 100% successful. He could live with that. "But I'm still allowed to kiss you, right?"
Her blush deepened. "Maybe. Sometimes."
"That works for me, too."
They made their way to the ice cream parlor, joined hands swinging as they walked, blissfully unaware that they were being watched.