YB Fanfic, Ch. 6
Previously:
Chapter 1: Hello I Love You
Chapter 2: My Brave Face
Chapter 3: Temperamental
Chapter 4: Million Dollar Smile
Chapter 5: Heart Messenger
Disclaimer: The A.N.JELL-verse belongs to the Hong sisters, creators of You're Beautiful. "Break On Through (To the Other Side)" belongs to the Doors (listen to it here) and "Simply Irresistible" to Robert Palmer (here).
Author's Notes: Thank you to lilivanilla1 and dawnfarie for reviewing! Enjoy the story! :)
Chapter Six - Somewhere In Between (Lifehouse)
On the ride home from the party, Jeremy found the tables turned on him when Tae-kyung mentioned seeing him and Su-jin deep in conversation earlier that night. "I thought you hated that girl," the vocalist remarked.
"You never know where you're going to find love," Mi-nam sighed, clasping his hands over his heart.
"I don't like her!" the blond boy insisted, folding his arms and pouting. "And I wasn't talking to her; she was talking to me!"
"You don't need to pretend," Shin-woo told him with a smile. "It's OK if you like each other. Su-jin seems like a nice person."
"When you don't piss her off," Mi-nam clarified.
Jeremy scowled. "Hyung," he told Shin-woo, "she was telling me that since we lost the basketball game, we have to cook dinner for her and Ha-neul."
The guitarist frowned, perplexed. "But we didn't lose that game," he protested. "No one was declared the winner; it was a tie."
"That's exactly what I told Su-jin! But then she said that since they were leading when we-when Manager Ma stopped the game, that means they won."
"Ha-neul said that, too." Shin-woo shook his head. "Girls!"
"Anyway," Jeremy went on, "I finally gave in and said we'd do it, just to shut her up. Right after that, I went to find you guys, so it obviously wasn't what you thought at all, Tae-kyung hyung!"
"I don't know," Tae-kyung replied mildly. "It looked like you could barely take your eyes off her."
"Hyuuuung," the blond boy whined, "stop teasing me! ...You're going to spoil everything!" he added in a low voice.
"What did you say?" Shin-woo asked.
"Nothing!"
Eventually, they agreed to hold the dinner at Ha-neul's house, mostly to get away from Mi-nam's threats to chaperone. Mr. So had a meeting that evening, so he wasn't going to be around, but Ha-neul was allowed to have visitors as long as they didn't leave a mess.
Shin-woo and Jeremy turned up at the Sos' doorstep at four o'clock that Sunday afternoon, laden with groceries. Su-jin, who had arrived earlier, was present to greet the boys and help them inside. "I thought I told you to make sure she was wearing a dress!" Jeremy hissed at her while Ha-neul showed Shin-woo to the kitchen.
"I tried," she said, "but I couldn't very well dictate what she should wear in her own home, could I?"
"I can't rely on you for anything," he complained.
"Just be glad she's wearing a nice blouse instead of a ratty old T-shirt!"
"Hey, you two," Shin-woo called out from the kitchen, "I know you want to be alone, but could you help us here first?"
"What in the world is he talking about?" Su-jin asked Jeremy.
The blond boy looked sheepish. "Tae-kyung hyung saw us talking at the party," he told her. "Now the other guys think we like each other."
"WHAT?!" Su-jin shrieked.
Fortunately, Jeremy had anticipated this and covered her mouth with his hand in time to muffle the unearthly noise. "I told them it wasn't true, I swear I did," he said earnestly, "but they wouldn't listen! And then I thought that it might even work in our favor," he added. "If Ha-neul and Shin-woo hyung leave us alone later, then that would mean that they're going to be alone, too, right?"
She scowled at him and pushed his hand away. "Right," she agreed grudgingly. "Fine, I'll play along, but the moment it's obvious that this isn't working, I'm dumping you!"
Ha-neul, too, was curious about Shin-woo's remark. "What did you mean, Jeremy and Su-jin want to be alone?" she asked him as they laid out dinner fixings on the kitchen counter.
Shin-woo pulled lettuce out of one plastic bag and gave her a sly grin. "I don't know if you saw it, but Tae-kyung saw them talking at the party. We think they like each other."
Ha-neul looked surprised. "I thought they hated each other."
"So did I."
He heard her giggle and glanced at her, but was distracted when Jeremy finally appeared with Su-jin and the rest of the groceries. The look on Jeremy's face warned everyone not to give him a hard time, and Shin-woo wisely decided to talk about something else. "That's a cool song," he remarked, nodding towards the small MP3 player dock set up next to the toaster oven. "The Doors, right?"
Ha-neul smiled when she recognized "Break On Through." "It's one of my favorites."
He listened for a while before nodding approvingly. "It sounds pretty good. I've never really had the chance to give the Doors a listen, but I think I'd like to sometime. Do you have any of their CDs?"
"Just one," she admitted self-deprecatingly. "I like them, but I don't have every song they ever made. I can lend you the CD if you like."
Shin-woo smiled. "I'd like that a lot."
"Hyung, if you're finished," Jeremy broke in sternly, "we have dinner to put on the table."
"Yes, sir," he chuckled, moving to help the other boy put everything in order.
Su-jin leaned her elbows on the counter, watching the boys work. "I hope you're not going to sabotage the food, because you're going to eat it with us."
"Of course we're going to eat it, too," Jeremy groused. "It's not fair for us to do all this work and not be allowed to eat."
"I was thinking it would be nice if we ate out on the deck," Ha-neul remarked suddenly. "We have a table and chairs out there, and we can set up the grill, too, if you need it."
"That sounds like a good idea," Shin-woo agreed, grateful for the intervention. Obviously, this budding romance was still in its very early stages. "Could you girls please set the table?"
"So... you and Jeremy," Ha-neul began as the girls laid out a tablecloth on the outdoors dining table. It was a sunny afternoon, but not too hot. "When did it start?"
"Very, very suddenly" was the mysterious reply.
"Well, I think it's a good thing," she said loyally. They tugged the fabric into place and smoothed out the creases with their hands. "You two make a cute couple. Sometimes he says the wrong things," she averred, "but I'm sure you'll take care of that."
Su-jin smiled briefly and began setting out the plates. "Right."
Just then, the girls heard the sliding door open and looked up to see Shin-woo walking out onto the balcony. "I thought I would set up the grill for you," he said. "So your hands won't get dirty."
"You're already doing the cooking-" Ha-neul began, then realized that this was the perfect opportunity to give Jeremy and Su-jin some time alone. "But on second thought, that's a very good idea! I hate getting charcoal on my hands," she babbled. "It's so hard to remove. Su-jin, why don't you go in and help Jeremy with the food? I can finish setting the table."
Shin-woo smiled at Su-jin. "We've already taken care of the meat, but it would be nice if you can help him prepare the rice and vegetables."
For a while, it looked as though Su-jin was going to argue, but finally she nodded and, muttering darkly, started for the entrance into the house.
"Did Su-jin just say something about having a knife in her hand?" Shin-woo asked when Su-jin was gone. He found the grill in one corner of the deck and went to bring it closer to the table. "She's not mad, is she?"
"Su-jin is good at teasing other people," Ha-neul told him, turning her attention back to setting the table, "but she doesn't like it when she's the one who gets teased."
"Just like Jeremy, then."
"And I guess she's still feeling shy about this thing with him."
Shin-woo smiled when he heard Ha-neul giggle again. Though she didn't look or act that much like a tomboy, it was still fascinating to hear her make such a feminine sound. "You think it's funny?"
"No," she answered. She was still grinning as she went around the table, putting out the glasses. "It's cute. They were arguing with each other so much. I wonder when they realized that it wasn't irritation with each other, but-" Ha-neul broke off and backed into something.
"But... what?"
She straightened and realized that she had bumped into Shin-woo, and froze when the motion brought her face quite close to his. Feeling as though her eyes were going to cross from looking at him so closely, she blurted out, "Sexual tension."
"What are they doing?" Jeremy asked, looking up from slicing the mushrooms and trying to peer through the windows.
"Why don't you tell me?" Su-jin replied irritably as she peeled some cloves of garlic. "You're taller, you can probably see more."
He glared at her bowed head, but did as he was told. "They have their arms wrapped around each other," he reported, "and they're kissing."
"Really?" Her head snapped up, then she punched Jeremy in the arm when he laughed and she saw that he was just joking. "Jerk! That wasn't funny!"
He grinned, feeling better after having a little bit of revenge - and seeing that his experiment seemed to be going well. "Ouch! OK, maybe that's not what they're doing," he acknowledged, "but they are standing very close to each other and not making any move to get away."
Fortunately for Jeremy, this time he was telling the truth. "And they look really into whatever it is they're talking about," Su-jin added in satisfaction.
"They might be talking about us," he reminded her.
"It's worth it if they're talking. That's what you said, right?" she asked as Ha-neul's MP3 player started playing a Robert Palmer song.
She's a natural law, and she leaves me in awe
She deserves the applause, I surrender because
She used to look good to me, but now I find her
Simply irresistible...
Despite its inauspicious beginnings, dinner turned out to be a great success. The food was good, the conversation lighthearted and the girls properly appreciative of the boys' efforts, which pleased Jeremy a lot. "I'd like to propose a toast," he said, raising his beer bottle. "To games that end in a draw, because everyone wins."
Shin-woo grinned and raised his own beer, ready to drink to that, but of course the girls weren't having any of it. Ha-neul booed and Su-jin shoved a rice-stuffed lettuce leaf in Jeremy's mouth. "We're not going to get started on that again, are we, oppa?" she asked sweetly, adding a little bit of emphasis on the nickname.
"Of course not, sweetheart," the blond boy answered around the mouthful of food, mustering a smile and pinching Su-jin's cheek. She kicked him under the table, a sure sign that she hated it - she had done the same earlier, when he ruffled her hair fondly.
Shin-woo traded amused glances with Ha-neul and proposed a different toast. "Let's drink to old and new friends instead," he suggested, "and let's also wish Ha-neul good luck on her career as a supermodel."
She blushed and ducked her head modestly. "It's only one runway show."
"And an ad campaign," Su-jin reminded her, clinking her beer bottle with her friend's. "Nang Eun-hee is a top designer. Maybe, after you do her show, you'll get more offers to model for other fashion designers."
Ha-neul shrugged. "We'll see what happens. In the meantime, since I have the chance, I'll give it a try. She seems like a really cool lady."
Suddenly, Su-jin snapped her fingers. "I almost forgot to tell you, Ha-neul! I got a voicemail message from Kyung-soon unni yesterday. Have you heard from her?"
"No... did she say why she was calling?"
"She said she was trying to get in touch with the whole team, but that's it. She said she'll call back."
"Maybe she's planning a reunion." Ha-neul smiled. "That would be fun. It's been a while since the last one."
"A reunion?" Jeremy asked. "You mean there are more of you?"
"Of course!" Su-jin told him. "Ha-neul and I didn't make it to the Olympics all by ourselves!"
"But don't even think about trying to find a replacement for Su-jin from the rest of our team," Ha-neul teased the blond boy. "Practically everyone else is married or has a partner already."
"I wouldn't dream of it," he declared, making a face. "I mean," he added hastily, grabbing Su-jin's hand, "I know I would never be able to replace my sweetheart! She's worth more than a dozen other girls."
"You better believe it," Su-jin said smugly.
"No offense, Ha-neul," Jeremy told their hostess.
She laughed. "None taken."
"So, it sounds like you're OK with Jeremy and Su-jin being a couple," Shin-woo remarked to Ha-neul after dinner. They were standing in the kitchen, preparing to wrap up leftovers, while the "couple" was outside, clearing the table.
"Once I got over being surprised, it made more and more sense," she chuckled as she brought out a number of plastic containers. She opened one and started scooping the leftover rice into it. "They're pretty cute together."
He grinned and started putting the vegetables into another container. "Even though Jeremy still spends too much time teasing Su-jin?"
"She teases him, too. I think annoying each other makes them happy."
Shin-woo nodded. "He only does that to people he cares about."
"I hope he makes that clear to Su-jin, though," Ha-neul warned, her brows drawing together sternly. "If he goes too far and ends up hurting her feelings, he's dead."
He chuckled. He got the feeling that she was just bluffing at present, but definitely would not hesitate to make good on the threat if necessary. "You're a good friend, Ha-neul," he told her.
"Thanks." She smiled at him as she finished putting away the rice. "My friends mean a lot to me, so I try to do right by them."
Shin-woo's gaze lingered on her a little while longer before he realized he was staring. He cleared his throat. "Uh, I was thinking that we should leave the leftovers for your dad when he gets home," he said. "As a way of saying 'thank you' for letting us come here."
Ha-neul nodded and smiled at him again. "He'll like that," she said, and started sorting the leftover meat. "Thank you."
"You're welcome." He looked away quickly, just in time to see Jeremy drop his end of the tablecloth and grab Su-jin in a hug.
"What are you doing?" Su-jin squealed, flailing and spitting out a mouthful of his shirt.
"Shin-woo hyung is looking this way!" he hissed. "Try to act natural! ...That is not natural!" he added when she flailed some more.
"It's hard to act natural when I can't breathe!"
"Oh. Sorry about that," Jeremy said, loosening his hold.
She scowled and rubbed her nose. "I think you flattened it. Are you wearing a bulletproof vest or something?"
"Of course not! That happens to be all muscle."
"Hmm." Su-jin prodded his chest. "You're in pretty good shape."
"You have to be to keep up with the kind of schedule that A.N.JELL has," he told her, preening at the compliment, then twisted suddenly when she poked at his ribs. "Hey! Don't do that!"
Naturally, that made her do it some more. "Why not?" she asked, an evil grin spreading across her face. "Are you ticklish?"
"N-no-" Jeremy said, but the hoot of laughter that escaped him after another jab belied his words. Quickly, he let her go before she could launch a full-scale attack. "I said don't do that!"
"What's the matter, Jeremy?" she asked, holding up her hands like claws. "We're just a boyfriend and girlfriend having a little fun."
"The problem is you're the one having all the fun!" he retorted, starting to back away. "Su-jin! I swear, if you come one step closer, I'll... I'll throw you over the balcony!"
She laughed and gave chase. "I'd like to see you try!"
Mr. So had some of the "thank-you leftovers" as a late-night snack when he got home. "Did you have fun?" he asked when father and daughter saw each other in the kitchen.
"It was very nice," Ha-neul replied. "How was your meeting?"
"Good." He nodded approvingly. "The kid I met seems to have a good head on his shoulders. His parents seem like good influences on him, too." In his years as a player and then a manager, Mr. So had seen a distressing amount of promising talent wasted by over-inflated egos and poor discipline. He built his reputation as a solid guiding hand partly by signing only players who had the work ethic to go with their skill. That meant that he sometimes had to bypass big-name players, but with his livelihood dependent on whether his clients were able to perform, Mr. So preferred reliability over drawing power.
"I'm glad."
"I received some calls about you tonight, too," her father told her. "Some more companies are interested in hiring you for their ad campaigns. They said they would send us their concepts so that we can decide whether or not to take the job.
"That crazy Nang woman called, too," he went on, frowning. "She was demanding to make sure that you were still going to model for her."
Ha-neul laughed. "She's an artist. I guess she just has that artistic temperament."
"Us non-artist types would call it annoying."
"Well, I think she's nice," Ha-neul said. "She seems like she could be unpleasant, but she seems to like me." She blushed. "She said I was a goddess." It was probably nothing, and therefore she was being silly by taking it to heart, but no one had ever called her that before.
Finishing his meal, Mr. So got up to take his dirty dishes to the sink. On his way there, he paused to put an arm around his daughter's shoulders. "That's one thing she and I agree on."
Chapter 1: Hello I Love You
Chapter 2: My Brave Face
Chapter 3: Temperamental
Chapter 4: Million Dollar Smile
Chapter 5: Heart Messenger
Disclaimer: The A.N.JELL-verse belongs to the Hong sisters, creators of You're Beautiful. "Break On Through (To the Other Side)" belongs to the Doors (listen to it here) and "Simply Irresistible" to Robert Palmer (here).
Author's Notes: Thank you to lilivanilla1 and dawnfarie for reviewing! Enjoy the story! :)
Chapter Six - Somewhere In Between (Lifehouse)
On the ride home from the party, Jeremy found the tables turned on him when Tae-kyung mentioned seeing him and Su-jin deep in conversation earlier that night. "I thought you hated that girl," the vocalist remarked.
"You never know where you're going to find love," Mi-nam sighed, clasping his hands over his heart.
"I don't like her!" the blond boy insisted, folding his arms and pouting. "And I wasn't talking to her; she was talking to me!"
"You don't need to pretend," Shin-woo told him with a smile. "It's OK if you like each other. Su-jin seems like a nice person."
"When you don't piss her off," Mi-nam clarified.
Jeremy scowled. "Hyung," he told Shin-woo, "she was telling me that since we lost the basketball game, we have to cook dinner for her and Ha-neul."
The guitarist frowned, perplexed. "But we didn't lose that game," he protested. "No one was declared the winner; it was a tie."
"That's exactly what I told Su-jin! But then she said that since they were leading when we-when Manager Ma stopped the game, that means they won."
"Ha-neul said that, too." Shin-woo shook his head. "Girls!"
"Anyway," Jeremy went on, "I finally gave in and said we'd do it, just to shut her up. Right after that, I went to find you guys, so it obviously wasn't what you thought at all, Tae-kyung hyung!"
"I don't know," Tae-kyung replied mildly. "It looked like you could barely take your eyes off her."
"Hyuuuung," the blond boy whined, "stop teasing me! ...You're going to spoil everything!" he added in a low voice.
"What did you say?" Shin-woo asked.
"Nothing!"
Eventually, they agreed to hold the dinner at Ha-neul's house, mostly to get away from Mi-nam's threats to chaperone. Mr. So had a meeting that evening, so he wasn't going to be around, but Ha-neul was allowed to have visitors as long as they didn't leave a mess.
Shin-woo and Jeremy turned up at the Sos' doorstep at four o'clock that Sunday afternoon, laden with groceries. Su-jin, who had arrived earlier, was present to greet the boys and help them inside. "I thought I told you to make sure she was wearing a dress!" Jeremy hissed at her while Ha-neul showed Shin-woo to the kitchen.
"I tried," she said, "but I couldn't very well dictate what she should wear in her own home, could I?"
"I can't rely on you for anything," he complained.
"Just be glad she's wearing a nice blouse instead of a ratty old T-shirt!"
"Hey, you two," Shin-woo called out from the kitchen, "I know you want to be alone, but could you help us here first?"
"What in the world is he talking about?" Su-jin asked Jeremy.
The blond boy looked sheepish. "Tae-kyung hyung saw us talking at the party," he told her. "Now the other guys think we like each other."
"WHAT?!" Su-jin shrieked.
Fortunately, Jeremy had anticipated this and covered her mouth with his hand in time to muffle the unearthly noise. "I told them it wasn't true, I swear I did," he said earnestly, "but they wouldn't listen! And then I thought that it might even work in our favor," he added. "If Ha-neul and Shin-woo hyung leave us alone later, then that would mean that they're going to be alone, too, right?"
She scowled at him and pushed his hand away. "Right," she agreed grudgingly. "Fine, I'll play along, but the moment it's obvious that this isn't working, I'm dumping you!"
Ha-neul, too, was curious about Shin-woo's remark. "What did you mean, Jeremy and Su-jin want to be alone?" she asked him as they laid out dinner fixings on the kitchen counter.
Shin-woo pulled lettuce out of one plastic bag and gave her a sly grin. "I don't know if you saw it, but Tae-kyung saw them talking at the party. We think they like each other."
Ha-neul looked surprised. "I thought they hated each other."
"So did I."
He heard her giggle and glanced at her, but was distracted when Jeremy finally appeared with Su-jin and the rest of the groceries. The look on Jeremy's face warned everyone not to give him a hard time, and Shin-woo wisely decided to talk about something else. "That's a cool song," he remarked, nodding towards the small MP3 player dock set up next to the toaster oven. "The Doors, right?"
Ha-neul smiled when she recognized "Break On Through." "It's one of my favorites."
He listened for a while before nodding approvingly. "It sounds pretty good. I've never really had the chance to give the Doors a listen, but I think I'd like to sometime. Do you have any of their CDs?"
"Just one," she admitted self-deprecatingly. "I like them, but I don't have every song they ever made. I can lend you the CD if you like."
Shin-woo smiled. "I'd like that a lot."
"Hyung, if you're finished," Jeremy broke in sternly, "we have dinner to put on the table."
"Yes, sir," he chuckled, moving to help the other boy put everything in order.
Su-jin leaned her elbows on the counter, watching the boys work. "I hope you're not going to sabotage the food, because you're going to eat it with us."
"Of course we're going to eat it, too," Jeremy groused. "It's not fair for us to do all this work and not be allowed to eat."
"I was thinking it would be nice if we ate out on the deck," Ha-neul remarked suddenly. "We have a table and chairs out there, and we can set up the grill, too, if you need it."
"That sounds like a good idea," Shin-woo agreed, grateful for the intervention. Obviously, this budding romance was still in its very early stages. "Could you girls please set the table?"
"So... you and Jeremy," Ha-neul began as the girls laid out a tablecloth on the outdoors dining table. It was a sunny afternoon, but not too hot. "When did it start?"
"Very, very suddenly" was the mysterious reply.
"Well, I think it's a good thing," she said loyally. They tugged the fabric into place and smoothed out the creases with their hands. "You two make a cute couple. Sometimes he says the wrong things," she averred, "but I'm sure you'll take care of that."
Su-jin smiled briefly and began setting out the plates. "Right."
Just then, the girls heard the sliding door open and looked up to see Shin-woo walking out onto the balcony. "I thought I would set up the grill for you," he said. "So your hands won't get dirty."
"You're already doing the cooking-" Ha-neul began, then realized that this was the perfect opportunity to give Jeremy and Su-jin some time alone. "But on second thought, that's a very good idea! I hate getting charcoal on my hands," she babbled. "It's so hard to remove. Su-jin, why don't you go in and help Jeremy with the food? I can finish setting the table."
Shin-woo smiled at Su-jin. "We've already taken care of the meat, but it would be nice if you can help him prepare the rice and vegetables."
For a while, it looked as though Su-jin was going to argue, but finally she nodded and, muttering darkly, started for the entrance into the house.
"Did Su-jin just say something about having a knife in her hand?" Shin-woo asked when Su-jin was gone. He found the grill in one corner of the deck and went to bring it closer to the table. "She's not mad, is she?"
"Su-jin is good at teasing other people," Ha-neul told him, turning her attention back to setting the table, "but she doesn't like it when she's the one who gets teased."
"Just like Jeremy, then."
"And I guess she's still feeling shy about this thing with him."
Shin-woo smiled when he heard Ha-neul giggle again. Though she didn't look or act that much like a tomboy, it was still fascinating to hear her make such a feminine sound. "You think it's funny?"
"No," she answered. She was still grinning as she went around the table, putting out the glasses. "It's cute. They were arguing with each other so much. I wonder when they realized that it wasn't irritation with each other, but-" Ha-neul broke off and backed into something.
"But... what?"
She straightened and realized that she had bumped into Shin-woo, and froze when the motion brought her face quite close to his. Feeling as though her eyes were going to cross from looking at him so closely, she blurted out, "Sexual tension."
"What are they doing?" Jeremy asked, looking up from slicing the mushrooms and trying to peer through the windows.
"Why don't you tell me?" Su-jin replied irritably as she peeled some cloves of garlic. "You're taller, you can probably see more."
He glared at her bowed head, but did as he was told. "They have their arms wrapped around each other," he reported, "and they're kissing."
"Really?" Her head snapped up, then she punched Jeremy in the arm when he laughed and she saw that he was just joking. "Jerk! That wasn't funny!"
He grinned, feeling better after having a little bit of revenge - and seeing that his experiment seemed to be going well. "Ouch! OK, maybe that's not what they're doing," he acknowledged, "but they are standing very close to each other and not making any move to get away."
Fortunately for Jeremy, this time he was telling the truth. "And they look really into whatever it is they're talking about," Su-jin added in satisfaction.
"They might be talking about us," he reminded her.
"It's worth it if they're talking. That's what you said, right?" she asked as Ha-neul's MP3 player started playing a Robert Palmer song.
She's a natural law, and she leaves me in awe
She deserves the applause, I surrender because
She used to look good to me, but now I find her
Simply irresistible...
Despite its inauspicious beginnings, dinner turned out to be a great success. The food was good, the conversation lighthearted and the girls properly appreciative of the boys' efforts, which pleased Jeremy a lot. "I'd like to propose a toast," he said, raising his beer bottle. "To games that end in a draw, because everyone wins."
Shin-woo grinned and raised his own beer, ready to drink to that, but of course the girls weren't having any of it. Ha-neul booed and Su-jin shoved a rice-stuffed lettuce leaf in Jeremy's mouth. "We're not going to get started on that again, are we, oppa?" she asked sweetly, adding a little bit of emphasis on the nickname.
"Of course not, sweetheart," the blond boy answered around the mouthful of food, mustering a smile and pinching Su-jin's cheek. She kicked him under the table, a sure sign that she hated it - she had done the same earlier, when he ruffled her hair fondly.
Shin-woo traded amused glances with Ha-neul and proposed a different toast. "Let's drink to old and new friends instead," he suggested, "and let's also wish Ha-neul good luck on her career as a supermodel."
She blushed and ducked her head modestly. "It's only one runway show."
"And an ad campaign," Su-jin reminded her, clinking her beer bottle with her friend's. "Nang Eun-hee is a top designer. Maybe, after you do her show, you'll get more offers to model for other fashion designers."
Ha-neul shrugged. "We'll see what happens. In the meantime, since I have the chance, I'll give it a try. She seems like a really cool lady."
Suddenly, Su-jin snapped her fingers. "I almost forgot to tell you, Ha-neul! I got a voicemail message from Kyung-soon unni yesterday. Have you heard from her?"
"No... did she say why she was calling?"
"She said she was trying to get in touch with the whole team, but that's it. She said she'll call back."
"Maybe she's planning a reunion." Ha-neul smiled. "That would be fun. It's been a while since the last one."
"A reunion?" Jeremy asked. "You mean there are more of you?"
"Of course!" Su-jin told him. "Ha-neul and I didn't make it to the Olympics all by ourselves!"
"But don't even think about trying to find a replacement for Su-jin from the rest of our team," Ha-neul teased the blond boy. "Practically everyone else is married or has a partner already."
"I wouldn't dream of it," he declared, making a face. "I mean," he added hastily, grabbing Su-jin's hand, "I know I would never be able to replace my sweetheart! She's worth more than a dozen other girls."
"You better believe it," Su-jin said smugly.
"No offense, Ha-neul," Jeremy told their hostess.
She laughed. "None taken."
"So, it sounds like you're OK with Jeremy and Su-jin being a couple," Shin-woo remarked to Ha-neul after dinner. They were standing in the kitchen, preparing to wrap up leftovers, while the "couple" was outside, clearing the table.
"Once I got over being surprised, it made more and more sense," she chuckled as she brought out a number of plastic containers. She opened one and started scooping the leftover rice into it. "They're pretty cute together."
He grinned and started putting the vegetables into another container. "Even though Jeremy still spends too much time teasing Su-jin?"
"She teases him, too. I think annoying each other makes them happy."
Shin-woo nodded. "He only does that to people he cares about."
"I hope he makes that clear to Su-jin, though," Ha-neul warned, her brows drawing together sternly. "If he goes too far and ends up hurting her feelings, he's dead."
He chuckled. He got the feeling that she was just bluffing at present, but definitely would not hesitate to make good on the threat if necessary. "You're a good friend, Ha-neul," he told her.
"Thanks." She smiled at him as she finished putting away the rice. "My friends mean a lot to me, so I try to do right by them."
Shin-woo's gaze lingered on her a little while longer before he realized he was staring. He cleared his throat. "Uh, I was thinking that we should leave the leftovers for your dad when he gets home," he said. "As a way of saying 'thank you' for letting us come here."
Ha-neul nodded and smiled at him again. "He'll like that," she said, and started sorting the leftover meat. "Thank you."
"You're welcome." He looked away quickly, just in time to see Jeremy drop his end of the tablecloth and grab Su-jin in a hug.
"What are you doing?" Su-jin squealed, flailing and spitting out a mouthful of his shirt.
"Shin-woo hyung is looking this way!" he hissed. "Try to act natural! ...That is not natural!" he added when she flailed some more.
"It's hard to act natural when I can't breathe!"
"Oh. Sorry about that," Jeremy said, loosening his hold.
She scowled and rubbed her nose. "I think you flattened it. Are you wearing a bulletproof vest or something?"
"Of course not! That happens to be all muscle."
"Hmm." Su-jin prodded his chest. "You're in pretty good shape."
"You have to be to keep up with the kind of schedule that A.N.JELL has," he told her, preening at the compliment, then twisted suddenly when she poked at his ribs. "Hey! Don't do that!"
Naturally, that made her do it some more. "Why not?" she asked, an evil grin spreading across her face. "Are you ticklish?"
"N-no-" Jeremy said, but the hoot of laughter that escaped him after another jab belied his words. Quickly, he let her go before she could launch a full-scale attack. "I said don't do that!"
"What's the matter, Jeremy?" she asked, holding up her hands like claws. "We're just a boyfriend and girlfriend having a little fun."
"The problem is you're the one having all the fun!" he retorted, starting to back away. "Su-jin! I swear, if you come one step closer, I'll... I'll throw you over the balcony!"
She laughed and gave chase. "I'd like to see you try!"
Mr. So had some of the "thank-you leftovers" as a late-night snack when he got home. "Did you have fun?" he asked when father and daughter saw each other in the kitchen.
"It was very nice," Ha-neul replied. "How was your meeting?"
"Good." He nodded approvingly. "The kid I met seems to have a good head on his shoulders. His parents seem like good influences on him, too." In his years as a player and then a manager, Mr. So had seen a distressing amount of promising talent wasted by over-inflated egos and poor discipline. He built his reputation as a solid guiding hand partly by signing only players who had the work ethic to go with their skill. That meant that he sometimes had to bypass big-name players, but with his livelihood dependent on whether his clients were able to perform, Mr. So preferred reliability over drawing power.
"I'm glad."
"I received some calls about you tonight, too," her father told her. "Some more companies are interested in hiring you for their ad campaigns. They said they would send us their concepts so that we can decide whether or not to take the job.
"That crazy Nang woman called, too," he went on, frowning. "She was demanding to make sure that you were still going to model for her."
Ha-neul laughed. "She's an artist. I guess she just has that artistic temperament."
"Us non-artist types would call it annoying."
"Well, I think she's nice," Ha-neul said. "She seems like she could be unpleasant, but she seems to like me." She blushed. "She said I was a goddess." It was probably nothing, and therefore she was being silly by taking it to heart, but no one had ever called her that before.
Finishing his meal, Mr. So got up to take his dirty dishes to the sink. On his way there, he paused to put an arm around his daughter's shoulders. "That's one thing she and I agree on."