13

“Looks like it was fun,” Sam Soon said, chewing on the last of the take-out that Jin Hun had ordered. “Nice photos… maybe you do have a career in photography,” she teased.

He got off the couch and headed for the kitchen, then turned around. “So I guess we are friends now, right?”
Friends. Were they ever friends? But she’d really enjoyed spending the evening with him so why not? She shrugged. “I suppose so.”

“Good. Mi Joo needs a dress for her end-of-term party and I’ve been given the task of buying it with her. I was thinking that it would be good to get a woman’s perspective on it.”

She pouted. “I see how it is… You are trying to use me.” She got off the couch. “I should have known.”
“No. But you know how sneaky Mi Joo has become. I’ll end up getting the wrong thing.”

She shook her head. “Aren’t you ashamed of being manipulated by someone who isn’t even half your age? As her uncle--”

She was interrupted mid-sentence by her ringing phone. She picked it up and looked at the caller id. After taking a deep breath in, she flipped it open.

“Hi… what’s going on?” she said into it. She readjusted herself so that she wasn’t facing the kitchen.

“Nothing,” Tae Young said from the other end of the line, “I just wanted to hear your voice… I haven’t heard from you all day. How was your day?”

“It was fine.” She glanced at the Jin Hun and caught him staring at her.

“Have you had dinner?” Tae Young continued.

“Yes. Hey, I’ll call you back in a few minutes….”

“Wait, why? Where are you?”

“I’ll call you back.” Feeling Jin Hun’s eyes boring into her was making her squirm. “I’ll--”

“Kim Sam Soon, where are you?!” he demanded

“I’m at Sam Sh…, I mean, Jin Hun’s place.” When he didn’t say anything, she continued, “I’ll call you in a few minutes.”

“Why are you there? Oh, you went with Mi Joo, right?”

“Right.”

“Okay, okay,” he said in a calmer voice. “Before you leave, let me say hello to her…. Hello? Hello? Sam Soon, can you hear me? Let me say hello to Mi Joo.”

Sam Soon swallowed to clear her throat. “Tae Young, she isn’t here.”

“What?!?!”

“I’ll call you back,” she said, hanging up. She picked up her bag and started to leave. “Hey, Jin Hun, thanks so much for dinner. About the dress, I can come with you on Sunday. Is that okay?”

He stepped out of the kitchen. “I see. You talk to your boyfriend and suddenly, I’m “Jin Hun” again.”

She ignored his last statement. “So, I’ll see you on Sunday,” she said, walking to the door. She heard his footsteps behind her so she picked up her pace. When she got to the door and turned the knob, his hand shot out of nowhere and kept it shut. She turned around and was met his face a few inches from hers.

“Jin Hun, what are you doing?” she asked, looking away. Her heartbeats were going at double rate.

“I thought I told you not to call me that.”

Without turning around, she felt for the doorknob. “I have to go now –he’s waiting for my call.”

“Then let him wait,” he whispered in her ear.

She looked into his eyes. “What’s your problem?” And why was he still using the cologne she got him?

“I just have one question: what’s so special about him?”

“What?”

“Why marry him and not me?”

She rolled her eyes. Earlier in the day, if she’d known that this was how they would end the evening, she wouldn’t have come. “I thought we were friends. Is this a question you ask a friend?”

“Why will you marry him and not me? Just tell me. Do you love him?”

Sam Soon eyed him. What did love have to do with anything? He’d claimed to love her and yet for over four years had refused to fight for her. Irritated, she hissed, turned around and started struggling with the door but it wouldn’t budge. She didn’t know what he’d eaten on his travels but he appeared to have some newly acquired strength. She spun back to face him. “Look, let me get--” Her words were cut short by his lips.

Even though he wasn’t holding her, his body was pressed against hers, imprisoning her. His lips was all over hers, planting her with kisses that were almost entirely filled with anger and frustration. She struggled to escape but he wouldn’t let her move. Then he slowed his pace and started kissing her softly and when she felt herself closing her eyes and starting to respond, he stopped.

“You still love me – why are you with him?” he asked, breathless, his lips barely a few inches from hers.

What the hell did he think he was doing? She pushed him off her. “Don’t you ever do that to me again!” Her heart was beating so rapidly that she could almost feel it in her throat. “Don’t you ever do that to me again!” she screamed. What kind of woman would she be if she ran back to him? When she turned back to the door, his hand was still on it, keeping it shut. She didn’t have to say anything more before he took it off. She unlocked the door and without glancing back she said, “And forget about shopping with me on Sunday.”


***
“So how come you went to English class, today? I thought you were quitting?” Tae Young asked from across the table.

The waitress picked up their menus and left.

“I decided that I might as well get to Advanced Level, just like you did,” she said, smiling at him. And it made no sense to stop learning English just because she was no longer seeing Jin Hun. In fact, she was certain it had nothing to do with him; after all, she had still been taking English classes months after they broke up. Yes, it had nothing to do with him or his mother – that was all in the past.

He nodded in approval. “That’s good. Level IV is great but like I said, why not see it all the way through?”

“Exactly.”

A few minutes later, when they were having dessert, Tae Young cleared his throat and said, “I don’t how to bring this up, but I don’t think you should be seeing Hyun Jin Hun so much anymore.”

She groaned. “I already explained to you what happened last time.”

“I know. But I think the fact that you see Mi Joo so much might make things difficult for you.”

She put a forkful of her dessert in her mouth. “Don’t worry, it won’t.”

“I’m not so sure about that. I think you should stop seeing Mi Joo,” he said before he took a sip of his coffee.

“What?” Her fork fell and clanged on her plate. “You want me to stop seeing a child just because you are uncomfortable?”

He put his mug down. “This is not about me – it’s about you. I am thinking about you.”

“Really? Then how come I didn’t think of it first? Shouldn’t I be the person thinking of myself most?”

“Because you aren’t thinking clearly.”

“How do you know? Are you in my head? How do you know what I am thinking?”

“Please, calm down.”

Some of the other patrons at the restaurant had begun to look at them.

“I am calm. Don’t I look calm? I just don’t think this is fair on Mi Joo. For over 4 years, I’ve been the closest thing to a mother-figure that she’s had and you want me to just cut her off?”

“You didn’t seem to have a problem with it till President Na visited you,” he said, matter-of-factly. “After the way she treated you, I don’t understand why you’re still seeking her approval.”

His tone was beginning to piss her off. It amazed her that no matter what he said, he didn’t seem to move one hair on his head. “What are you talking about? This is not about her – it’s about Mi Joo!”

“Really? Then why are you taking up English classes again?”

“Didn’t we just talk about it? Didn’t you just agree with my reasons? Or was that a dream?”

“It’s hard for me to believe you when you are mixed up with Hyun Jin Hun again. Have you forgotten that I know all about you two? And I saw how devastated you were when things ended with you? Sometimes, I wonder if you really care about me.”

“What exactly are you trying to say?”

“Why can’t you just stop seeing him?”

“I already told you that I am not. I only see Mi Joo. If you want to break our engagement, just say so. You don’t have to start accusing me of things.”

“I’m sorry. I’m sorry, I’m just so tired. Just tired of worrying,” he said, his face finally betraying a trace of emotion.

Sam Soon reached out and touched his hand “About me? Why are you worried about me? I already told—”

“Not about you. It’s my Mom…”

Oh. “She’s sick again?”

“Just a few aches and pains but my father is scared that she might be relapsing again.”

Sam Soon kept caressing his hand. “Don’t worry about it. I’m sure it’s nothing.”


***

Jin Hun sat at his desk and looked around his office. It had been nice to get away but he’d really missed his job. When he asked to come back to work, his mother had told him that he’d been demoted because, “Vice Presidents can’t just leave when they want to,” but since his old office looked exactly as he’d left it, he was pretty sure she’d been bluffing.

He was logging on to his computer when his secretary buzzed him.

“Yes?”

“Miss Park Eunsoo is here to see you.”

Was she his new boss? “Let her in.”

A few minutes later, in a slim fitting but professional suit, she walked into his office. “Welcome back,” she said, beaming at him.

“Thank you,” he said, looking up at her. He noticed that her new haircut made her look even prettier. “So what did my mother send you here to do?”

She shook her head then sat down on his couch. “Why do you always think your Mom is behind everything?”

He chuckled. “Because she is.”

“I’m not some kind of puppet, you know? I control my own life and do what I want. Your mother doesn’t pull my strings and make me do whatever she likes.”

“You don’t say.”

“I am serious, Oppa. For instance, your mother didn’t ask me to be here.”

He folded his arms. “No? Then why are you here?”

She tucked her hair behind her ear. “You’ve been away for a while. I just wanted to update you on what’s been happening here. What’s the point of having a Vice President who isn’t up to speed?”

Jin Hun studied her. What was her deal?

***
When the doorbell rang, Sam Soon picked up her bag. “Mom, I’m leaving now, I’ll see you later,” she said as she walked out of the house.

Even though she’d told Jin Hun that she wouldn’t be going shopping with him, Mi Joo had called and begged her, assuring her that they’d go alone. She opened the gate and saw Mi Joo standing next to Jin Hun’s parked car.

“Hey,” she said, waving at Mi Joo to come to her. When she did, Sam Soon asked, “What’s he doing here?”