I'll Be Good For You, Ch. 12
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
Chapter 11: Meeting
Disclaimer: The A.N.JELL-verse belongs to the Hong sisters, creators of You're Beautiful.
Author's Notes: Happy New Year, everyone! I hope you had a great holiday season. Mine was pretty good, mainly because I made A LOT of progress in this fic. I think I'm in the home stretch as far as writing it is concerned! :D Thanks, as always, to akaironoyoru for reviewing, and to those of you still following this story :)
Chapter Twelve - Dizzy Boy (Pedicab)
The main conference room at AN Entertainment was filled with people that morning. They came from various departments in the agency and most usually had little to do with each other, but they were gathering together that day because they were all, one way or another, involved with A.N.JELL's production, promotion and business management.
Naturally, President Ahn was seated at the head of the long conference room table with the members of A.N.JELL itself arranged on either side of him. "Is everyone here?" the head of the agency asked.
Ms. Jeung glanced at her checklist. "No, sir. The writer, Reporter Park, was in the middle of something when I called her office. She said she'll be here in a few minutes, though."
"What's this meeting for, anyway?" Mi-nam asked Shin-woo, who was seated next to him.
"President Ahn wants updates on all the activities that have to do with A.N.JELL," the guitarist replied. "He wants everyone who's involved with the band to know what's going on in each department so that we're all in sync with each other. Of course, we have to know all about it, too."
Just then, the door to the conference room opened and Oh-lan entered, notebook and pen at the ready. "I'm sorry I'm late, President Ahn," she apologized. "I was working on the book when Ms. Jeung called. I came as soon as I could."
She was greeted with an excited squeal from Stylist Wang and a number of whistles and catcalls from other members of the staff. That day, Oh-lan was wearing a more colorful, stylish ensemble instead of her usual black, and the change was dramatic enough to warrant the reactions.
A.N.JELL's manager smiled indulgently. "That's quite all right, Reporter Park. I'm glad you could join us today, and may I just say, you look very nice."
She acknowledged the compliment, and the fresh wave of teasing from the staffers that followed, with an embarrassed smile as she took the only remaining empty seat at the table, which happened to be right next to Tae-kyung and right across from Mi-nam. Mi-nam couldn't help loosing a wolf whistle of his own when she sat down; but where she had responded to the staffers' teasing with a wry little smile, she skewered him with a severe frown, which incidentally matched the one Tae-kyung gave him.
There was no time to react, though, because at that point, President Ahn rapped his knuckles on the table. "Now that everyone is here, let's begin."
Everyone - or, at least, everyone who stuck around - found out the reason behind the writer's choice of wardrobe after the meeting, when Stylist Wang pounced on her. "I'm so glad you've gone back to your new look!" she exclaimed, shaking Oh-lan's arm excitedly. "It really does look so much better on you than all that black. Is that the skirt that we bought in Itaewon?"
"It is," she replied self-consciously.
Mi-nam was surprised to hear that Stylist Wang had taken her shopping, but supposed it made sense that someone else had to be responsible for putting together her new look. (That skirt really was eyecatching... especially the fact that there wasn't much of it.)
"Well, you look precious in it. Why the sudden change?" The stylist nudged her slyly. "Do you have a big date tonight?"
"I do, actually."
Wait... what?
Oh-lan had left the conference room and started down the hall back to her office when Mi-nam recovered from his surprise and darted after her. "You have a date?" he called as he ran down the corridor.
"Yes," she replied, not breaking her brisk stride. "Is that such a surprise?"
"Yes-I mean, no!" He scrubbed a hand over his face, reminding himself that he wasn't acting very smooth. "So, who's the lucky guy?" he asked in a more casual tone as he finally caught up with her. "It's not that jerk from the bar, is it?"
She snorted. "Ugh. Of course not."
They walked on in silence for a few moments. "Who is it, then?" Mi-nam persisted. How does she expect me to believe her if she doesn't give details? he thought irritably. Reporters, of all people, should know the importance of details!
She sighed. "If you must know, I'm meeting one of my father's fellow professors from the university."
"Oh." He relaxed and even managed a smile. If the dude worked at a university, then he couldn't be cooler than Mi-nam. That meant he still had a chance... or not. "Wait - this isn't a mat-seon, is it?"
"No!" Oh-lan said, her cheeks turning pink. "My father just suggested that it might be nice to make a new friend, that's all. My parents would never force me into that kind of thing."
He was greatly relieved to hear that, but of course he wasn't going to say so. Instead, he said, "Well, if you're just meeting him to make friends, then why are you calling it a date?"
"Why can't I call it a date?"
"Reporter Park, you haven't gone on many dates, have you?" He slung a friendly arm around her shoulders. "Just because there's a guy and a girl involved doesn't mean it's automatically a date. There has to be some romance involved. Take it from me, I'm an expert."
He totally had all her best interests at heart, but she clearly didn't see that, because she threw off his arm and glared at him. "I may not have gone on as many dates as you, Go Mi-nam, but I've read enough about the subject to know that defining just what a 'date' is can be very tricky these days. So I'll call my meeting with Professor Chin whatever I want."
She drew herself up and, despite giving up several inches, managed to look down her nose at him. "And one more thing," she added crisply. "Neither he nor I may have romance on our minds at present, but I'm open to that possibility. Therefore, if anything happens between us, this will count as our first date. So there!"
"I'm sure you're very busy, so I appreciate your taking the time to come and meet with me."
Su-jin, perched on a luxurious leather armchair in the Shilla Hotel's Library lounge, smiled politely at the elegantly dressed woman seated across from her. "It wasn't any trouble."
Lady Maitland smiled back. "Would you like some tea? I'll pour some for both of us. I do this with my husband every day back home," she said as she poured tea into a pair of pure white china cups. "It feels a little strange to be pouring tea here in Korea. Cream and sugar?"
"Just sugar, please," Su-jin answered, still wondering why Jeremy's mother had invited her to have tea.
"As I was saying," the older woman continued while preparing their drinks, "thank you very much for meeting with me." She glanced up briefly. "I was hoping I could explain about what happened at dinner the other night."
"You don't have to. Je-your son has explained it to me already." She looked around to make sure that no one had heard her almost mention Jeremy by name. Even though there were probably other guys who called themselves Jeremy in Korea, Jeremy Maitland was the most famous one.
Lady Maitland urged her to help herself to the sandwiches and pastries that had been served with their tea. "What did he say?" she asked.
She hesitated. "If we're talking about all the questions that your husband asked me, he said that that was he was just being a protective father and that was the way things are done in his class. I mean, your class."
Jeremy's mother smiled dryly. "No, he didn't."
Su-jin gave a guilty laugh. "OK, he didn't," she admitted. "But regardless of what he really told me, I said it was OK. Your husband was just being a dad, and honestly, it wasn't so bad. It felt like a job interview."
"That's an interesting way of putting it," Lady Maitland said, laughing lightly. "Still, I can't help but feel bad. I know that my son likes you very much, and I had hoped to make a good impression."
She blushed. "It's all right. As I said, the things your husband did were understandable, and... well, you're being very nice to me, inviting me here and everything."
"I'm glad to know we didn't scare you off. I know for a fact that my husband doesn't have any real objections to Je-our son dating you. The two of them just have a rather complicated relationship."
Su-jin nodded. "I heard a little bit about that, too," she said quietly.
"Lord knows I've tried to get those two to sit down and talk things over," Lady Maitland sighed, "but if there's one thing they have in common, it's that they're both terribly stubborn."
She had to laugh at that, but prudently decided not to say anything more about it. "Maybe they'll get around to it someday," she said instead.
"It's going to be a long wait, with us living so far away. I worry about him sometimes." The older woman smiled and reached across the table to touch Su-jin's hand. "Which is why I'm glad he's found someone like you, Su-jin. At least I know he has someone to watch out for him, and to talk to about these things."
Su-jin colored again. She supposed this meant that Jeremy's mom, at least, approved of her as a girlfriend for him. That was a good thing, but.... "I can't promise that I'll be able to do that as his girlfriend," she answered. "I know that your son likes me a lot, and I like him, too, but I need to be sure of things before we start a relationship.
"However," she went on before Lady Maitland could say anything, "I will promise to stay by his side, at least as a friend."
Thanks to a number of business commitments, including the mini-concert that Jeremy's parents attended, it was a few days before Mi-nam could interrogate the writer about her date. Further, when A.N.JELL finally returned to AN Entertainment, it was to continue recording their upcoming album, so he spent the better part of the day waiting impatiently for a break.
The moment the band was given time to rest, he grabbed a couple of bottles of water made a beeline for Oh-lan's office. "So, how was the date?" he asked the moment he walked through the door.
As expected, she was at her desk, typing away on her laptop, and she frowned at him over the tops of her eyeglasses. "Aren't you supposed to be working?"
"We're on break. Here." He put one of the bottles on her desk. "How was your date?" he repeated.
She looked at him for a moment before turning back to her work. "It was quite pleasant, thank you. Is anything wrong with that?" she asked when Mi-nam snickered.
"No, not really," he replied, making himself comfortable on her couch.
"What are you doing?" she asked, sounding as though he were something disgusting that had crawled out of the heating vent.
"Just hanging out," he answered, opening his water bottle and taking a sip.
"I don't mean to be rude, but do you have to do it here in my office?"
"I like it here. It's quiet." He grinned as Oh-lan promptly put on some loud music just to spite him. "So, your date was 'quite pleasant,' huh?"
"That's what I said."
"And what is the good professor like? Does he wear glasses and ratty brown jackets?"
"Yes," she said truthfully, and scowled when Mi-nam started to laugh. "Hey, not all of us are celebrities who can afford to wear the latest fashions all the time. Maybe his wardrobe isn't the trendiest, but Professor Chin is a truly nice person. We get along very well."
That took a little of the wind out of Mi-nam's sails, but damned if he was going to show it. "Really now?" he replied, arching an eyebrow. "Well, since you like him so much, then maybe I should give you dating advice to make sure you get him."
Oh-lan hadn't been lying about her date with Professor Chin. It had gone well enough for him to invite her out a second time, and while he wasn't as snappy a dresser as the members of A.N.JELL, he was reasonably good-looking, with a full head of neatly trimmed hair and a square, earnest face.
They really did get along well, which wasn't really a surprise considering Oh-lan's understanding of the academic life and their mutual interest in books and reading.
What she hadn't told Mi-nam was that while she and Professor Chin got along, there didn't seem to be anything between them other than friendship. She wasn't actively looking for anything more, of course, but Mi-nam clearly thought otherwise and had been sending her "helpful hints" all throughout her second date with the professor.
Don't sit up straight, but lean towards him a little to indicate that you're interested in him.
Try to mirror his movements so he thinks that the two of you are in perfect sync with each other.
Anything that draws attention to your mouth is a good thing.
She had been able to pretend that the first few were emergency messages from a co-worker, but when they kept coming, she silenced her cell phone. "But won't your co-worker need your help?" Professor Chin had asked when she announced that she was doing so.
"He'll be fine," Oh-lan replied. "Office hours ended at five-thirty and I really shouldn't be expected to hold his hand through every little thing, should I?"
"I suppose not."
There were five more unread messages from Mi-nam when her date excused himself to go to the restroom. Growling under her breath, she finally sent him a message: Why do you keep bothering me?
And he replied: Why do you care?
She didn't care, Oh-lan told herself, but she also wasn't going to dignify that question with any answer. She was sure that Mi-nam wasn't going to let her have the last word, and they would be exchanging messages for the rest of the night, which wouldn't be fair to Professor Chin at all.
As if all those text messages weren't bad enough, the rat actually called her while she and her date were on their way to a café for coffee and dessert. At first, Oh-lan ignored the buzzing in her coat pocket, thinking that it was another one of his stupid texts; but when the buzzing didn't stop, signaling that she was receiving a call, she had no choice but to check her phone.
"Is it your co-worker again?" Professor Chin asked.
"Yes," she replied flatly, ignoring the call and shoving the phone back into her pocket.
"He's working rather late, isn't he?"
"It takes him a while to get things right." She made a frustrated noise when the buzzing refused to stop. "I'm very sorry, Tae-mul, but I should probably answer and find out what's wrong."
"Of course," he said. "If he's calling instead of texting, it must be serious."
Oh-lan thanked him and walked a discreet distance away to answer the call. "What do you want, Go Mi-nam?!" she hissed.
"Hi, Reporter Park!" he said brightly. "How's your daaaaate?"
"Are you drunk?" In the background, she heard music and laughter, signs that he was probably at a bar.
He laughed. "If I am, then that explains why I'm feeling really, really good."
"Why in the world are you calling me?!" she demanded.
"Hey, I may be protective, but I'm still drunk!" Mi-nam answered defensively. "I mean, I may be drunk, but-you know what I mean. Didn't I promise to help you tonight?"
"I don't need your help. Go home!"
"I wish I could," he said in a childish voice, "but I can't remember how."
Oh-lan groaned and smacked her forehead with her palm. He sounded like a cheerful drunk, as opposed to a mean one, but even cheerful drunks could get into trouble and this particular one could not afford to have any kind of scandal attached to his name. "OK, fine! Stay there! I'll call you right back!"
"Is it a very bad emergency?" Professor Chin asked when she rejoined him.
"You can't even begin to imagine." She looked up at him apologetically. "I'm afraid I have to cut the evening short, Tae-mul. I wish-"
"It's perfectly all right, Oh-lan," he assured her. "If it's been distracting you all night, it's probably a good idea to resolve it once and for all."
"Things can get very stressful at work," she explained lamely. "I should probably get another job. But you must allow me to make it up to you," she went on. "Maybe sometime next week?"
"I'd like that," he replied with a smile. "I'll call you tomorrow and we can compare schedules."
Oh-lan smiled back. He really was very nice, even if all they could ever really be were friends. "All right."
After another loud phone call, wherein she had to instruct Mi-nam three times to give his phone to a security guard or anyone who could possibly tell her where he was, Oh-lan bade her date good night and caught a cab to a nightclub in the Gangnam district.
He was sitting on the steps outside, coat open and scarf undone despite the late-autumn chill in the air.
"Jagi!" he greeted her happily, flinging out his arms when she appeared.
"Ssshhhhh!" she hissed, and shook her head at the bouncer at the entrance, just in case the man recognized Mi-nam and started thinking things. "Obviously, he doesn't know what he's saying," she said to him, trying to laugh. "We're just friends."
"Very, very good friends," Mi-nam added, throwing his arms around her legs.
Oh-lan grabbed the wall to keep from falling. "I'm very sorry about this, ajusshi," she said to the bouncer as she tried to extricate herself from his grip. For a feminine-looking flower boy, he was pretty strong. "Did he cause any trouble? Did you have to throw him out?"
"No, miss," the burly man assured her in a rumbling voice. "He was just getting really loud, that's all. He came out and sat here on his own."
"Oh. I'm glad to hear it." Still holding on to the wall, she gave him a respectful bow. "Thank you for taking care of him."
The motion sent her hair, which she had worn loose that night, falling forward. Distracted, Mi-nam batted at the wavy mass like a kitten. "Ooh, pretty."
Oh-lan straightened and stepped away from him. "Will you please behave?" she admonished. "Where's your phone? Have you tried calling any of the others to come and pick you up?"
"No," he answered, obediently digging into his pocket for his cellphone.
She grabbed the gadget and tried to turn it on, only to discover that the battery was dead. "Brauuughhhhh!"
It would have been immensely satisfying to kick him, but that wouldn't have been nice considering his current state. Instead, Oh-lan grimly vowed future retribution as she hailed a taxi and dragged Mi-nam from the nightclub steps to the vehicle.
After an eternity of struggling, in which the taxi driver and the bouncer had been no use at all, she managed to dump him in the back seat and scramble in after him. "You're not going to throw up, are you?" she demanded after translating Mi-nam's garbled directions into comprehensible Korean for the driver's benefit.
"I'll be fine," he mumbled, leaning over and putting his head in her lap. "So long as I lie down."
She blushed and started to shift awkwardly, then remembered that it wasn't a good idea to jostle a drunk person. Pretend he's Genghis, she told herself as Mi-nam snuggled against her thigh like her cat trying to find a comfortable spot to curl up for a nap. He's Genghis and he just wants some attention.
Oh-lan supposed that she was doing a fairly good job of pretending he was her cat, because some time later, she found herself stroking his hair like she would Genghis' fur. She drew back her hand as if Mi-nam's head had suddenly burst into flames and, after a few moments of figuring out where to put her arm, reached up awkwardly and draped it along the back of the seat.
"If you vomit on me," she told him, "you're dead."
Manager Ma was surprised when Oh-lan summoned him to her office the next morning. "What is it, Reporter Park?" he asked as he entered and, at her invitation, took a seat on her saggy brown couch. "Do you need another interview for your book?"
"No," she answered, coming out from behind her desk. Rather than join him on the couch, she chose to remain standing, looking down on him. "I need to know why you weren't keeping an eye on Go Mi-nam."
"What?"
"He got drunk in a bar last night," she told him, trying (and failing) not to sound antagonistic. "Luckily for you, he didn't cause any major scandals or worse, get into an accident. Isn't it your job to protect the band? What were you doing while he was out there getting himself into trouble?"
The little man had shrunk into the couch cushions during her tirade. "I-I was accompanying Jeremy and Tae-kyung on their TV show guesting," he stammered. "I had to make sure they got there, didn't I? A-and Mi-nam never called me."
"No, he called me, and I had to cut my date short to do your work for you!"
"Well... why didn't you call me?"
That brought Oh-lan up short. "I was distracted!" she said after a moment's pause, sounding a lot less angry than she had before. "I didn't know if he was in trouble, so I came right over. Don't you guys have rules about drinking or going off alone? Maybe you should have them, at least for the younger ones."
"They're all old enough to drink in public," Manager Ma said, sounding a bit defensive. "They wouldn't be allowed if they were too young."
"Maybe so, but they still have to learn how to control themselves. Could you please talk to Mi-nam about it, at least?" she asked plaintively. "I'm sorry I snapped at you, but it was a bit of an inconvenience. I even had to pay for the taxi."
He inclined his head. "I'll talk to him," he promised. "And we'll reimburse you for the cab fare."
Oh-lan nodded. "Thank you."
Though the talk with Manager Ma did a lot to calm her down, she became annoyed all over again when Mi-nam himself came to see her later that day. "Manager Ma talked to me about last night," he began, running a hand through his artfully rumpled hair. "I'm sure you're really mad at me, but I just wanted to say I'm sorry."
She folded her arms and regarded him sternly. "Do you remember anything about what happened?"
Mi-nam vaguely remembered throwing his arms around her and spending the ride home with his head in her lap, but guessed that she probably didn't want to be reminded of any of that. "Um... not really?" he hedged.
That, too, turned out to be the wrong answer. "If that's the case, then you obviously shouldn't be drinking," Oh-lan told him. "I'm not saying that you don't deserve to have fun, but you're a celebrity and you're in a band. You should be conscious of how you conduct yourself in front of other people, and how your actions might affect the other members of A.N.JELL."
He nodded meekly. Even though it was partly her fault that he had wound up in that situation, she was still totally right. "I didn't do anything... improper, did I?"
"The bouncer said you just got a little loud, that's all," she assured him, "but they didn't throw you out."
"How about... to you?"
Her cheeks turned pink, but she shook her head. "I wouldn't have allowed it."
"Of course not," he said with a brief chuckle.
"One more thing," Oh-lan said. "I didn't mind helping you because you needed it, but the next time something like this happens, you should call Manager Ma. It's his job to take care of you."
"Yeah, he told me that, too," Mi-nam replied. "Sorry I interrupted your date."
She sighed. "I'm working really hard on this book, but I need to have time for myself, too, and it's very hard to keep my personal and professional lives separate if you keep bothering me."
"I promise it won't happen again."
Oh-lan nodded."Well, thank you for coming to apologize."
He smiled. "I figured I owed you that, at least."
She started to turn back to her computer and Mi-nam prepared to take his leave, but she peered at him again at the last moment. "You seemed really drunk last night," she said. "How are you feeling today?"
He paused at the door and flashed her a grin. "Like an elephant stomped on my head," he admitted.
She sniffed. "I should hope so."
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
Chapter 11: Meeting
Disclaimer: The A.N.JELL-verse belongs to the Hong sisters, creators of You're Beautiful.
Author's Notes: Happy New Year, everyone! I hope you had a great holiday season. Mine was pretty good, mainly because I made A LOT of progress in this fic. I think I'm in the home stretch as far as writing it is concerned! :D Thanks, as always, to akaironoyoru for reviewing, and to those of you still following this story :)
Chapter Twelve - Dizzy Boy (Pedicab)
The main conference room at AN Entertainment was filled with people that morning. They came from various departments in the agency and most usually had little to do with each other, but they were gathering together that day because they were all, one way or another, involved with A.N.JELL's production, promotion and business management.
Naturally, President Ahn was seated at the head of the long conference room table with the members of A.N.JELL itself arranged on either side of him. "Is everyone here?" the head of the agency asked.
Ms. Jeung glanced at her checklist. "No, sir. The writer, Reporter Park, was in the middle of something when I called her office. She said she'll be here in a few minutes, though."
"What's this meeting for, anyway?" Mi-nam asked Shin-woo, who was seated next to him.
"President Ahn wants updates on all the activities that have to do with A.N.JELL," the guitarist replied. "He wants everyone who's involved with the band to know what's going on in each department so that we're all in sync with each other. Of course, we have to know all about it, too."
Just then, the door to the conference room opened and Oh-lan entered, notebook and pen at the ready. "I'm sorry I'm late, President Ahn," she apologized. "I was working on the book when Ms. Jeung called. I came as soon as I could."
She was greeted with an excited squeal from Stylist Wang and a number of whistles and catcalls from other members of the staff. That day, Oh-lan was wearing a more colorful, stylish ensemble instead of her usual black, and the change was dramatic enough to warrant the reactions.
A.N.JELL's manager smiled indulgently. "That's quite all right, Reporter Park. I'm glad you could join us today, and may I just say, you look very nice."
She acknowledged the compliment, and the fresh wave of teasing from the staffers that followed, with an embarrassed smile as she took the only remaining empty seat at the table, which happened to be right next to Tae-kyung and right across from Mi-nam. Mi-nam couldn't help loosing a wolf whistle of his own when she sat down; but where she had responded to the staffers' teasing with a wry little smile, she skewered him with a severe frown, which incidentally matched the one Tae-kyung gave him.
There was no time to react, though, because at that point, President Ahn rapped his knuckles on the table. "Now that everyone is here, let's begin."
Everyone - or, at least, everyone who stuck around - found out the reason behind the writer's choice of wardrobe after the meeting, when Stylist Wang pounced on her. "I'm so glad you've gone back to your new look!" she exclaimed, shaking Oh-lan's arm excitedly. "It really does look so much better on you than all that black. Is that the skirt that we bought in Itaewon?"
"It is," she replied self-consciously.
Mi-nam was surprised to hear that Stylist Wang had taken her shopping, but supposed it made sense that someone else had to be responsible for putting together her new look. (That skirt really was eyecatching... especially the fact that there wasn't much of it.)
"Well, you look precious in it. Why the sudden change?" The stylist nudged her slyly. "Do you have a big date tonight?"
"I do, actually."
Wait... what?
Oh-lan had left the conference room and started down the hall back to her office when Mi-nam recovered from his surprise and darted after her. "You have a date?" he called as he ran down the corridor.
"Yes," she replied, not breaking her brisk stride. "Is that such a surprise?"
"Yes-I mean, no!" He scrubbed a hand over his face, reminding himself that he wasn't acting very smooth. "So, who's the lucky guy?" he asked in a more casual tone as he finally caught up with her. "It's not that jerk from the bar, is it?"
She snorted. "Ugh. Of course not."
They walked on in silence for a few moments. "Who is it, then?" Mi-nam persisted. How does she expect me to believe her if she doesn't give details? he thought irritably. Reporters, of all people, should know the importance of details!
She sighed. "If you must know, I'm meeting one of my father's fellow professors from the university."
"Oh." He relaxed and even managed a smile. If the dude worked at a university, then he couldn't be cooler than Mi-nam. That meant he still had a chance... or not. "Wait - this isn't a mat-seon, is it?"
"No!" Oh-lan said, her cheeks turning pink. "My father just suggested that it might be nice to make a new friend, that's all. My parents would never force me into that kind of thing."
He was greatly relieved to hear that, but of course he wasn't going to say so. Instead, he said, "Well, if you're just meeting him to make friends, then why are you calling it a date?"
"Why can't I call it a date?"
"Reporter Park, you haven't gone on many dates, have you?" He slung a friendly arm around her shoulders. "Just because there's a guy and a girl involved doesn't mean it's automatically a date. There has to be some romance involved. Take it from me, I'm an expert."
He totally had all her best interests at heart, but she clearly didn't see that, because she threw off his arm and glared at him. "I may not have gone on as many dates as you, Go Mi-nam, but I've read enough about the subject to know that defining just what a 'date' is can be very tricky these days. So I'll call my meeting with Professor Chin whatever I want."
She drew herself up and, despite giving up several inches, managed to look down her nose at him. "And one more thing," she added crisply. "Neither he nor I may have romance on our minds at present, but I'm open to that possibility. Therefore, if anything happens between us, this will count as our first date. So there!"
"I'm sure you're very busy, so I appreciate your taking the time to come and meet with me."
Su-jin, perched on a luxurious leather armchair in the Shilla Hotel's Library lounge, smiled politely at the elegantly dressed woman seated across from her. "It wasn't any trouble."
Lady Maitland smiled back. "Would you like some tea? I'll pour some for both of us. I do this with my husband every day back home," she said as she poured tea into a pair of pure white china cups. "It feels a little strange to be pouring tea here in Korea. Cream and sugar?"
"Just sugar, please," Su-jin answered, still wondering why Jeremy's mother had invited her to have tea.
"As I was saying," the older woman continued while preparing their drinks, "thank you very much for meeting with me." She glanced up briefly. "I was hoping I could explain about what happened at dinner the other night."
"You don't have to. Je-your son has explained it to me already." She looked around to make sure that no one had heard her almost mention Jeremy by name. Even though there were probably other guys who called themselves Jeremy in Korea, Jeremy Maitland was the most famous one.
Lady Maitland urged her to help herself to the sandwiches and pastries that had been served with their tea. "What did he say?" she asked.
She hesitated. "If we're talking about all the questions that your husband asked me, he said that that was he was just being a protective father and that was the way things are done in his class. I mean, your class."
Jeremy's mother smiled dryly. "No, he didn't."
Su-jin gave a guilty laugh. "OK, he didn't," she admitted. "But regardless of what he really told me, I said it was OK. Your husband was just being a dad, and honestly, it wasn't so bad. It felt like a job interview."
"That's an interesting way of putting it," Lady Maitland said, laughing lightly. "Still, I can't help but feel bad. I know that my son likes you very much, and I had hoped to make a good impression."
She blushed. "It's all right. As I said, the things your husband did were understandable, and... well, you're being very nice to me, inviting me here and everything."
"I'm glad to know we didn't scare you off. I know for a fact that my husband doesn't have any real objections to Je-our son dating you. The two of them just have a rather complicated relationship."
Su-jin nodded. "I heard a little bit about that, too," she said quietly.
"Lord knows I've tried to get those two to sit down and talk things over," Lady Maitland sighed, "but if there's one thing they have in common, it's that they're both terribly stubborn."
She had to laugh at that, but prudently decided not to say anything more about it. "Maybe they'll get around to it someday," she said instead.
"It's going to be a long wait, with us living so far away. I worry about him sometimes." The older woman smiled and reached across the table to touch Su-jin's hand. "Which is why I'm glad he's found someone like you, Su-jin. At least I know he has someone to watch out for him, and to talk to about these things."
Su-jin colored again. She supposed this meant that Jeremy's mom, at least, approved of her as a girlfriend for him. That was a good thing, but.... "I can't promise that I'll be able to do that as his girlfriend," she answered. "I know that your son likes me a lot, and I like him, too, but I need to be sure of things before we start a relationship.
"However," she went on before Lady Maitland could say anything, "I will promise to stay by his side, at least as a friend."
Thanks to a number of business commitments, including the mini-concert that Jeremy's parents attended, it was a few days before Mi-nam could interrogate the writer about her date. Further, when A.N.JELL finally returned to AN Entertainment, it was to continue recording their upcoming album, so he spent the better part of the day waiting impatiently for a break.
The moment the band was given time to rest, he grabbed a couple of bottles of water made a beeline for Oh-lan's office. "So, how was the date?" he asked the moment he walked through the door.
As expected, she was at her desk, typing away on her laptop, and she frowned at him over the tops of her eyeglasses. "Aren't you supposed to be working?"
"We're on break. Here." He put one of the bottles on her desk. "How was your date?" he repeated.
She looked at him for a moment before turning back to her work. "It was quite pleasant, thank you. Is anything wrong with that?" she asked when Mi-nam snickered.
"No, not really," he replied, making himself comfortable on her couch.
"What are you doing?" she asked, sounding as though he were something disgusting that had crawled out of the heating vent.
"Just hanging out," he answered, opening his water bottle and taking a sip.
"I don't mean to be rude, but do you have to do it here in my office?"
"I like it here. It's quiet." He grinned as Oh-lan promptly put on some loud music just to spite him. "So, your date was 'quite pleasant,' huh?"
"That's what I said."
"And what is the good professor like? Does he wear glasses and ratty brown jackets?"
"Yes," she said truthfully, and scowled when Mi-nam started to laugh. "Hey, not all of us are celebrities who can afford to wear the latest fashions all the time. Maybe his wardrobe isn't the trendiest, but Professor Chin is a truly nice person. We get along very well."
That took a little of the wind out of Mi-nam's sails, but damned if he was going to show it. "Really now?" he replied, arching an eyebrow. "Well, since you like him so much, then maybe I should give you dating advice to make sure you get him."
Oh-lan hadn't been lying about her date with Professor Chin. It had gone well enough for him to invite her out a second time, and while he wasn't as snappy a dresser as the members of A.N.JELL, he was reasonably good-looking, with a full head of neatly trimmed hair and a square, earnest face.
They really did get along well, which wasn't really a surprise considering Oh-lan's understanding of the academic life and their mutual interest in books and reading.
What she hadn't told Mi-nam was that while she and Professor Chin got along, there didn't seem to be anything between them other than friendship. She wasn't actively looking for anything more, of course, but Mi-nam clearly thought otherwise and had been sending her "helpful hints" all throughout her second date with the professor.
Don't sit up straight, but lean towards him a little to indicate that you're interested in him.
Try to mirror his movements so he thinks that the two of you are in perfect sync with each other.
Anything that draws attention to your mouth is a good thing.
She had been able to pretend that the first few were emergency messages from a co-worker, but when they kept coming, she silenced her cell phone. "But won't your co-worker need your help?" Professor Chin had asked when she announced that she was doing so.
"He'll be fine," Oh-lan replied. "Office hours ended at five-thirty and I really shouldn't be expected to hold his hand through every little thing, should I?"
"I suppose not."
There were five more unread messages from Mi-nam when her date excused himself to go to the restroom. Growling under her breath, she finally sent him a message: Why do you keep bothering me?
And he replied: Why do you care?
She didn't care, Oh-lan told herself, but she also wasn't going to dignify that question with any answer. She was sure that Mi-nam wasn't going to let her have the last word, and they would be exchanging messages for the rest of the night, which wouldn't be fair to Professor Chin at all.
As if all those text messages weren't bad enough, the rat actually called her while she and her date were on their way to a café for coffee and dessert. At first, Oh-lan ignored the buzzing in her coat pocket, thinking that it was another one of his stupid texts; but when the buzzing didn't stop, signaling that she was receiving a call, she had no choice but to check her phone.
"Is it your co-worker again?" Professor Chin asked.
"Yes," she replied flatly, ignoring the call and shoving the phone back into her pocket.
"He's working rather late, isn't he?"
"It takes him a while to get things right." She made a frustrated noise when the buzzing refused to stop. "I'm very sorry, Tae-mul, but I should probably answer and find out what's wrong."
"Of course," he said. "If he's calling instead of texting, it must be serious."
Oh-lan thanked him and walked a discreet distance away to answer the call. "What do you want, Go Mi-nam?!" she hissed.
"Hi, Reporter Park!" he said brightly. "How's your daaaaate?"
"Are you drunk?" In the background, she heard music and laughter, signs that he was probably at a bar.
He laughed. "If I am, then that explains why I'm feeling really, really good."
"Why in the world are you calling me?!" she demanded.
"Hey, I may be protective, but I'm still drunk!" Mi-nam answered defensively. "I mean, I may be drunk, but-you know what I mean. Didn't I promise to help you tonight?"
"I don't need your help. Go home!"
"I wish I could," he said in a childish voice, "but I can't remember how."
Oh-lan groaned and smacked her forehead with her palm. He sounded like a cheerful drunk, as opposed to a mean one, but even cheerful drunks could get into trouble and this particular one could not afford to have any kind of scandal attached to his name. "OK, fine! Stay there! I'll call you right back!"
"Is it a very bad emergency?" Professor Chin asked when she rejoined him.
"You can't even begin to imagine." She looked up at him apologetically. "I'm afraid I have to cut the evening short, Tae-mul. I wish-"
"It's perfectly all right, Oh-lan," he assured her. "If it's been distracting you all night, it's probably a good idea to resolve it once and for all."
"Things can get very stressful at work," she explained lamely. "I should probably get another job. But you must allow me to make it up to you," she went on. "Maybe sometime next week?"
"I'd like that," he replied with a smile. "I'll call you tomorrow and we can compare schedules."
Oh-lan smiled back. He really was very nice, even if all they could ever really be were friends. "All right."
After another loud phone call, wherein she had to instruct Mi-nam three times to give his phone to a security guard or anyone who could possibly tell her where he was, Oh-lan bade her date good night and caught a cab to a nightclub in the Gangnam district.
He was sitting on the steps outside, coat open and scarf undone despite the late-autumn chill in the air.
"Jagi!" he greeted her happily, flinging out his arms when she appeared.
"Ssshhhhh!" she hissed, and shook her head at the bouncer at the entrance, just in case the man recognized Mi-nam and started thinking things. "Obviously, he doesn't know what he's saying," she said to him, trying to laugh. "We're just friends."
"Very, very good friends," Mi-nam added, throwing his arms around her legs.
Oh-lan grabbed the wall to keep from falling. "I'm very sorry about this, ajusshi," she said to the bouncer as she tried to extricate herself from his grip. For a feminine-looking flower boy, he was pretty strong. "Did he cause any trouble? Did you have to throw him out?"
"No, miss," the burly man assured her in a rumbling voice. "He was just getting really loud, that's all. He came out and sat here on his own."
"Oh. I'm glad to hear it." Still holding on to the wall, she gave him a respectful bow. "Thank you for taking care of him."
The motion sent her hair, which she had worn loose that night, falling forward. Distracted, Mi-nam batted at the wavy mass like a kitten. "Ooh, pretty."
Oh-lan straightened and stepped away from him. "Will you please behave?" she admonished. "Where's your phone? Have you tried calling any of the others to come and pick you up?"
"No," he answered, obediently digging into his pocket for his cellphone.
She grabbed the gadget and tried to turn it on, only to discover that the battery was dead. "Brauuughhhhh!"
It would have been immensely satisfying to kick him, but that wouldn't have been nice considering his current state. Instead, Oh-lan grimly vowed future retribution as she hailed a taxi and dragged Mi-nam from the nightclub steps to the vehicle.
After an eternity of struggling, in which the taxi driver and the bouncer had been no use at all, she managed to dump him in the back seat and scramble in after him. "You're not going to throw up, are you?" she demanded after translating Mi-nam's garbled directions into comprehensible Korean for the driver's benefit.
"I'll be fine," he mumbled, leaning over and putting his head in her lap. "So long as I lie down."
She blushed and started to shift awkwardly, then remembered that it wasn't a good idea to jostle a drunk person. Pretend he's Genghis, she told herself as Mi-nam snuggled against her thigh like her cat trying to find a comfortable spot to curl up for a nap. He's Genghis and he just wants some attention.
Oh-lan supposed that she was doing a fairly good job of pretending he was her cat, because some time later, she found herself stroking his hair like she would Genghis' fur. She drew back her hand as if Mi-nam's head had suddenly burst into flames and, after a few moments of figuring out where to put her arm, reached up awkwardly and draped it along the back of the seat.
"If you vomit on me," she told him, "you're dead."
Manager Ma was surprised when Oh-lan summoned him to her office the next morning. "What is it, Reporter Park?" he asked as he entered and, at her invitation, took a seat on her saggy brown couch. "Do you need another interview for your book?"
"No," she answered, coming out from behind her desk. Rather than join him on the couch, she chose to remain standing, looking down on him. "I need to know why you weren't keeping an eye on Go Mi-nam."
"What?"
"He got drunk in a bar last night," she told him, trying (and failing) not to sound antagonistic. "Luckily for you, he didn't cause any major scandals or worse, get into an accident. Isn't it your job to protect the band? What were you doing while he was out there getting himself into trouble?"
The little man had shrunk into the couch cushions during her tirade. "I-I was accompanying Jeremy and Tae-kyung on their TV show guesting," he stammered. "I had to make sure they got there, didn't I? A-and Mi-nam never called me."
"No, he called me, and I had to cut my date short to do your work for you!"
"Well... why didn't you call me?"
That brought Oh-lan up short. "I was distracted!" she said after a moment's pause, sounding a lot less angry than she had before. "I didn't know if he was in trouble, so I came right over. Don't you guys have rules about drinking or going off alone? Maybe you should have them, at least for the younger ones."
"They're all old enough to drink in public," Manager Ma said, sounding a bit defensive. "They wouldn't be allowed if they were too young."
"Maybe so, but they still have to learn how to control themselves. Could you please talk to Mi-nam about it, at least?" she asked plaintively. "I'm sorry I snapped at you, but it was a bit of an inconvenience. I even had to pay for the taxi."
He inclined his head. "I'll talk to him," he promised. "And we'll reimburse you for the cab fare."
Oh-lan nodded. "Thank you."
Though the talk with Manager Ma did a lot to calm her down, she became annoyed all over again when Mi-nam himself came to see her later that day. "Manager Ma talked to me about last night," he began, running a hand through his artfully rumpled hair. "I'm sure you're really mad at me, but I just wanted to say I'm sorry."
She folded her arms and regarded him sternly. "Do you remember anything about what happened?"
Mi-nam vaguely remembered throwing his arms around her and spending the ride home with his head in her lap, but guessed that she probably didn't want to be reminded of any of that. "Um... not really?" he hedged.
That, too, turned out to be the wrong answer. "If that's the case, then you obviously shouldn't be drinking," Oh-lan told him. "I'm not saying that you don't deserve to have fun, but you're a celebrity and you're in a band. You should be conscious of how you conduct yourself in front of other people, and how your actions might affect the other members of A.N.JELL."
He nodded meekly. Even though it was partly her fault that he had wound up in that situation, she was still totally right. "I didn't do anything... improper, did I?"
"The bouncer said you just got a little loud, that's all," she assured him, "but they didn't throw you out."
"How about... to you?"
Her cheeks turned pink, but she shook her head. "I wouldn't have allowed it."
"Of course not," he said with a brief chuckle.
"One more thing," Oh-lan said. "I didn't mind helping you because you needed it, but the next time something like this happens, you should call Manager Ma. It's his job to take care of you."
"Yeah, he told me that, too," Mi-nam replied. "Sorry I interrupted your date."
She sighed. "I'm working really hard on this book, but I need to have time for myself, too, and it's very hard to keep my personal and professional lives separate if you keep bothering me."
"I promise it won't happen again."
Oh-lan nodded."Well, thank you for coming to apologize."
He smiled. "I figured I owed you that, at least."
She started to turn back to her computer and Mi-nam prepared to take his leave, but she peered at him again at the last moment. "You seemed really drunk last night," she said. "How are you feeling today?"
He paused at the door and flashed her a grin. "Like an elephant stomped on my head," he admitted.
She sniffed. "I should hope so."