7

“Hey, ready to go?” Mr. Lee said the moment Sam Soon walked out of her class.

“Oh,” she smiled at him, “you were waiting? I’m not going home right now.” She walked up to him.

“No? Where are you going?”

“Oh, it’s my Dad’s birthday so I am taking my mother to dinner.”

They started walking out of the building. “Ah… no wonder you looked a little dressed up.”

Sam Soon shrugged and looked down at her clothes. “You think this is fine?”

“Of course. Where are you going? Is it an expensive place?”

“Yeah… I’ve never been there before. My mom picked it and said I should dress nicely.” She rolled her eyes. “Parents…”


***

Sam Soon walked into the restaurant to see her mother sitting at the bar. “Omma, you should have gotten a table.”

“Oh,” her mother said, smiling widely at her, “how are you doing today, my dearest daughter? You look pretty.”

Sam Soon raised her brow. “Huh?”

Her mother’s smile was still unusually wide. “I’d like you to meet Mr. Ha Jin Mo.” She took her daughter’s hand and pulled her to the man sitting next to her.

Sam Soon waved at him unsurely. “Nice to meet you.”

“Your daughter is even more beautiful than you described,” he said.

Her mother looked at her. “Alright, Sam Soon, I will see you at home.” She got off the stool.
At that moment, a waitress approached to inform them that their table was ready. “After you, Sam Soon,” Mr. Ha said.

She laughed nervously. “Why don’t you go ahead? I’ll meet you in a minute.” She rushed after her mother who was already heading towards the door. “Omma,” she said when she caught up with her. “What’s going on?”

Her mother stopped and looked at her. “Mr. Ha is a nice man. Why don’t you have dinner with him?” she brushed off some lint from her daughter’s skirt.

Sam Soon couldn’t believe what was happening. “Omma, what’s this?”

“I just want you to see what else is out there. You think I want you living with me forever?” she said seriously.

Sam Soon sighed and looked away. Damn. Now even her mother was getting fed up.

“So don’t keep him waiting. Jin Mo has just come back from living in China for five years. I think you two might have some things in common – tell him about your stay in France.”


***

“I’ll just have the chicken salad.” Sam Soon returned the menu to the waitress.

“That’s all you’re eating?” Jin Mo asked.

Sam Soon nodded.

“Oh, now you are making me feel bad for ordering all that food.”

She chuckled. “No… don’t feel bad at all. The salad will fill me up.”

He nodded knowingly. “I understand – that’s how you keep such a fantastic figure.”

She just smiled. If someone had told her that losing 12kg would also mean that she’d get unwarranted comments from strange men, she might have thought twice about it. Unwarranted compliments and constant hunger. God, she was hungry! And now she had to watch this man devour all that food while she pretended to be satisfied by what wouldn’t even fill up a bird.

She could feel his gaze on her so she looked at him. “My mother says you were in China.”

“Yes, I was running a manufacturing plant.” He kept leering at her.

“Oh. Are you an engineer?”

“Yes. Wow, you have really pretty eyes… a beautiful nose and such nice skin. How come a woman that looks like you isn’t married?”

Sam soon sighed and pretended she couldn’t feel her skin crawl. Crap, it was going to be a long night. “Well…”


***
Sam Soon got into the elevator at Sam Shik’s hotel and pressed the button for his floor. She realized that her impatience was putting a strain on their relationship so she’d decided that she was going to make an effort to be a good girlfriend. After all, the point was to push him towards getting his mother to agree and not to push him away from her.

She got off the elevator and headed to his office, smiling at the employees she recognized.

“Is Mr. Hyun in?” she asked his secretary.

“Yes. But he’s in with Miss Park Eunsoo.”

“Ah… I’ll wait here then,” she said, putting the lunchbox on the coffee table. “Isn’t it lunch time?”

“Yes, but I think the meeting will soon be over.”

Sam Soon got comfortable on the couch. For some reason, hearing that girl’s name really irritated her. Maybe if she didn’t know that his mother wanted her as a daughter-in-law, she would like her. Or maybe if she didn’t hang around so god-damn much. Or… maybe, just maybe if she didn’t smile all the damn time. Yeah, and it wouldn’t hurt if she was a lot less pretty. She knew it was going to be hard to play ‘great girlfriend’ because could already feel her conviction slipping.

“Yes, Oppa, I will look over the figures again but I think I am right. We really need to look at this seriously,” Eunsoo said, stepping out of the office.

Sam Soon stood up.

“I will. But right now let’s just have--” Jin Hun stopped speaking when he saw Sam Soon. “Hold on for a second,” he said to Eunsoo. “Hey Sam Soon, what are you doing here?”

Sam Soon lifted the bag. “I brought lunch.”

Jin Hun looked apologetically at Eunsoo. “I’m sorry; it looks like I am going to have to take a rain check. How about tomorrow? We can look over the figures again.”

Eunsoo smiled. “It’s not a problem at all. Hello, Sam Soon unnie.”

Sam Soon smiled back at her then walked towards them. “Hi. I’m sorry about this. I will be sure not to show up tomorrow. Take care.”

Jin Hun walked in to the office with Sam Soon then shut the door behind him. He loosened his tie. “You could have pretended that you cared I previously had plans,” he joked.

But Sam Soon wasn’t having it. “Sorry?”

“You know, you were supposed to say, ‘Oh, you had lunch plans? I’m sorry. You guys should go, I’ll see you later.’ Then Eunsoo would have said, ‘No, don’t worry…’ blah blah. You get the drift.”

“Whatever,” Sam Soon said, unpacking the lunch. “I am not in the mood to play games.”

Jin Hun looked at the food. “You brought fruit salad? Good… I am in the mood for something refreshing.”

“It’s not for you.”

“You only brought lunch for yourself?”

“No, Silly. The fruit is for me – everything else is for you.”

Jin Hun sighed then plopped on the couch. “When are you going to stop all this nonsense? Or are you trying to become a skeleton?”

“Stop it – everyone likes my new figure.” She swayed her hips.

“Not everyone. Mi Joo now hates going over to your shop. She says all you do is make her exercise and never give her anything good to eat. You’ve become ridiculous.”

“I’m ridiculous?” She laughed sarcastically. “You know what’s ridiculous? The fact that I have to literally starve myself so that your mother can accept me!”

“God, we are back to your favorite topic again. I’m surprised that wasn’t the first thing out of your mouth. Instead of saying, ‘Hello,’ why don’t you just say, ‘Marriage’?” That way we don’t have to waste our time on the small talk!”

“Shut the hell up!”

“And don’t blame my mother –she never told you to lose weight!”

“Well, I have to stop giving her reasons to hate me. And you know what? I don’t feel like fighting today so I am going back to the shop.” Then in English, she added, “Have a good day, Mister.”

“Stop,” Jin Hun grabbed her hand, “sit and eat. I don’t want to fight either. Let’s just have a pleasant lunch for once.”

Sam Soon looked at him hesitantly.

“Look, I am sorry. So can you please sit so we can eat?”



***

When Sam Soon was packing up the empty lunch bowls she said, “Just so you know, I went on a date.”

Jin Hun who’d been walking over to his desk stopped in his tracks. “What do you mean?”

“What did it sound like? I went on a date.”

“When? With who? Lee Tae Young?”

She looked at him incredulously. “Why would you say such a thing?”

“Then who?”

She could see his face getting redder so she looked away. “My mom set me up with an engineer.”

He looked shocked. “Your mother?”

“Yes,” she nodded. “She said she wanted me to meet other men.”

“Unbelievable,” he said under his breath. He leaned against his desk to steady himself.

Sam Soon put the lunchbox in her bag. She’d tried not to resort to theatrics like this but he really hadn’t left her with much choice. And Mr. Lee was right – if he really loved her, there’s no reason it should take so long. She looked at him. “So now you know,” she finished with a flourish.

“And how was it? How was your date?” he demanded.

She shrugged. “It was alright. But I did learn one thing.”

“What would that be?”

She gave him a tight smile. “You are not the only man in the world for me. If I am not engaged by my 35th birthday, we are through.”