15

A/N: Thanks, mcleen.

Sam Soon ran to the front desk. “Where is he?” She asked the nurse.

The petite lady looked up from her computer. “Ma’am, who are you talking about?”

“Sam Shik!” She leaned over the desk and tried to catch her breath.

“Ma’am, please calm down. Sam Shik? Sam is his last name?”

“Of course not. His last name is Hyun.” Do they only hire morons these days?

The lady typed the name into the computer then looked up at Sam Soon. “Hyun Sam Shik? I don’t see the name here. How do you spell it?”

Oh goodness. “His name is not…”

“Sam Soon?” she heard Jin Hun’s voice from behind. She turned around.

She ran up to him and started feeling him all over. “Are you okay? What’s wrong? What’s the matter?”

A confused Jin Hun said, “Huh?”

“Mi Joo… Mi Joo called. She said you were here. What’s wrong with you? Why are you here?”

He scrunched his face. “I’m here for my annual check-up.”

“What?” Sam Soon let that sink in. “Your annual check up?” she repeated in a much smaller voice.

“Yes….” He searched her face then started laughing. “You ran here because of this?” He laughed harder.

Sam Soon rolled her hand into a fist and hit her palm. “I am going to get Mi Joo.”

Jin Hun broke down into a fit of laughter.

Sam Soon stared at him in disgust. “You! What’s so funny?”

He made a show of scratching his head and thinking. “What was it you were saying about being manipulated by someone half my age? Except in your case, it’s more like a third….”

“Shut up!” Mi Joo was due for some good talking-to. She honestly could not believe that she actually fell for this. She looked at her watch. “I think I can probably catch the next train,” she said to herself then rapidly walked out of the hospital.

Jin Hun ran up to catch up with her. “And you say you don’t love me. Give up already and just marry me," he said, looking pleased with himself.

“Drop dead,” she retorted without looking at him.

“So where are you going to?” The smirk appeared to be permanently planted on his face.

“None of your business.”

“Going to meet Tae Young?”

“If I say yes, will you get lost?” she said, picking up her pace.

“Maybe,” he said, putting his hands in his pocket and following her. Shortly after they arrived at the train station, he looked at his ticket and asked, “What’s in Siheung?”

Sam Soon eyed him. “Why are you asking me? You don’t know why you're going there?”


***


When they got on the train, Sam Soon sat at an unoccupied seat next to a fellow passenger while Sam Shik sat behind her.

About ten minutes after the train started moving, he tapped her shoulder. “There’s an empty seat next to me."

She ignored him.

He tapped her again. “I said there’s an empty seat next to me.”

Sam Soon turned around. “So what?”

“Come and sit here." He patted it.

“Why?”

“Because I want you to.”

“So what? Because you want me to? You must think you’re Zeus or something.” She hissed then turned back around.

“Sam Soon.”

“What?”

“Why don’t you come here? Are you scared?”

She turned around. “Of what?”

He shrugged. “If it’s nothing, come and sit here.”

She grunted and turned back around. The man sitting next to her rolled his eyes and shook his head.

Before she knew it, she felt familiar hands grab her. “What tha…” she exclaimed as Jin Hun pulled her up and dumped her in the window seat. Soon after, he sat next to her.

“Much better,” he said, nodding and looking satisfied.

She hid a smile. What a loser. How come he couldn't be so assertive when dealing with his mother?

A few minutes later, she glanced at him and said, “I’m not going anywhere – I prefer the window seat, anyway.”

“Good to know.”

“So you can let go of my hand now,” she said, tugging it away.

“I’d rather not.” He held on to her.


***


“Remember the first time we rode a train together?”

She didn’t look up from her magazine. “No.”

He nudged her. “You don’t remember the time we went to Pusan?”

She sighed. “Yes, I do. And you know what? I should have seen the signs then.”

He crinkled his forehead. “Which signs?”

“Signs you’re a conman,” she said, pointing at him. “You were supposed to say that you loved me but instead you spoke about my name.” She went back to reading her magazine.

“Do you want me to do it now?”

She laughed. “You couldn’t.”

“Are you sure about that?”

She didn’t even look up at him. “I triple dare you.”

“Alright.” He stood up and cleared his throat. “Excuse me, Ladies and Gentlemen, my name is Hyun Jin Hun and the woman next to me is Kim Sam Soon.”

Sam Soon reached out to pull him down but instead, he pulled her up.

“Okay, you win,” she whispered. She felt weird; she was both frightened and excited about what he looked like he was about to do. “You can sit back down.”

He ignored her and instead, lifted her arm up. “Isn’t she beautiful?” he asked the rest of the passengers.


Yes. She’s alright. Keep quiet!


“We’ve been in love for about five years,” he continued, “but she doesn’t want to marry me. What do you guys think? Should she marry me?”


Yes. Of course. Who cares? Marry him. You're not getting any younger.


“Who said that?” Sam Soon yelled. She looked around for the culprit but was only met with stifled giggles.

“Thank you all,” he said, struggling to keep a straight face. Then he sat down and pulled Sam Soon down with him.

She smirked at him. “See? You’re still a conman.”



***

“So where are we going now?” Jin Hun asked shortly after they walked out of the bakery.

“Why do you keep asking me that?”

A few minutes later, Sam Soon darted into a shoe store. She went up to the sales lady and pointed at some red pumps. “Could I see those?”

The woman looked at her feet. “A size 245?”

Sam Soon shook her head. “They’re not for me – they’re for him,” she said just as Jin Hun joined her.

“W-What?” He looked at the shoes then at the sales lady. He shook his head in horror. “N-No, she’s only kidding.”

Sam Soon turned to him. “You need to stop being so shy. You begged me to come shoe shopping with you and now you’re backing out? I would gladly pretend the shoes were for me if we were the same size but your feet are obviously bigger than mine.”

Other customers had begun to stare at them.

Jin Hun frowned. “Stop it.”

Sam Soon chuckled. “You are so funny. I already told you that I am sick and tired of you stretching my shoes. Just let her get you something in your size, okay? Don’t be embarrassed - I am sure she’s used to seeing this kind of thing.” She turned to the lady. “Aren’t you, Miss?”

The lady smiled back. “Sure.”

“And Sam Shik, when we are done, we can go across the street and get you a bra.”

On hearing this, Jin Hun turned around and walked out of the store.



***


“You didn’t even get anything in the end.” Jin Hun fell in step with Sam Soon shortly after she walked out of the store.

“You’re still here?”

“You must be hungry.” He looked around the street. “What would you like to eat?”

“None of your business.”

Jin Hun’s response was interrupted by Sam Soon’s ringing phone.

She flipped it open. “Unnie, what’s up?”

“Guess?” her sister asked excitedly.

Sam Soon held the phone closer to her ear. “What? You won the lottery?”

“No. Better than that!”

“I won the lottery?”

“Mr. Hwang called and he wants to meet with us!”

Sam Soon screamed and started jumping. “You’re lying.”

“Nope. He’s set an appointment for Tuesday. He’s bringing a few of his colleagues with him and they’d like to take us out to lunch. And he said we should bring our lawyer along!”

“NOOOO!!!”

After getting a few more details from her sister, she hung up and told Jin Hun all about it.

“Congratulations! Let’s celebrate.” He hugged her.

“How?” she asked after he let go of her. She was so happy that she couldn’t even be bothered to analyze why it felt so good to be in his arms again.

He took her hand. “Let’s go in here.”


***

“Is this the kind of place you celebrate in?” Sam Soon said, looking around the fast-food joint.

“When did you become such a snob?”

“Are these together?” The boy at the counter asked after they placed their orders.

Jin Hun shook his head.

Sam Soon glared at him.

“What?” he asked innocently. “When it comes to me paying, we are suddenly together?” He chuckled. “Yes, they are together,” he said to the cashier.

Sam Soon shook her head. “No, you are right. Mister, they are separate.”

“No, together,” Jin Hun insisted.

Sam Soon took some money out of her purse, placed it on the counter, then took her food and went to find a table. Soon after, Jin Hun joined her. Then she got up and found the farthest table away. A few seconds later, he was sitting next to her. Then she got up again.

“Don’t you get tired of embarrassing yourself?”

“Ask yourself that question, Sam Shik. If you want to eat today, you’d better leave me alone.”

She walked away but this time, Jin Hun didn’t follow her.

About 5 minutes later, Sam Soon’s phone rang. She looked at her caller id then looked at him from across the room.

She sniggered. “You’ve become a stalker, haven’t you?” she said into the phone.

He looked back at her but spoke into the phone. He used his hand to hide his mouth and said, “I miss you. Come over here.”

“You are crazy. Leave me alone. I am hanging up now.”

“No! Wait.”

“What?”

“Nothing, really. I just didn’t want you to hang up.”

She snorted. “Okay. Bye now!”

“Wait… come over here,” he said, gesturing for her to join him.

She turned her whole body away so that she was backing him. “No-o. You haven’t gotten the hint yet?”

“Okay,” he said, relaxing into his chair. “So when are we going back to Seoul?”

She shrugged. “Did I ask you to come? I leave when I want to.”

“I might have things to do. Don’t you have to go to work?”

“It’s a half day today and I already baked everything this morning.” She glanced back at him and he waved in response. She turned back around.

“You might have some internet orders," he continued.

“Then I’ll do them later,” she said, in a sing-song voice. She relaxed into her seat.

“I’m ready to leave,” he groaned.

“Then leave!”

“Let’s go together.”

She laughed. “I don’t think so, Sam Shiki,” she said, still sing-songy. She took a bite out of her pizza. “And unless you want to keep listening to me like this,” she said with her mouth full, “hang up now! In fact, I am turning my phone off.”


***


“Alright, let’s go home,” Jin Hun said as soon as they stepped back on the street.

“No-o.”

“Ye-es.” He pulled her and started walking.

“No.” She pulled back at him and brought him to a halt.

She put her hands on her hips. “I haven’t celebrated enough. What else should we do?” She started dancing around again. “And your mother said I’m not the kind of woman that can run an important business.”

Jin Hun turned stiff. “When did she say that?”

Sam Soon turned red. How did she let that slip out? She looked away. “Forget about it.”

“Sam Soon, did my mother say anything to you?” he asked softly.

She smiled at him and looked everywhere but his eyes. “Yep. But that’s all in the past now. Let’s forget about it.”

“What do you mean by that? It’s not in the past. I am asking you right now.”

“Look, don’t ruin my day, okay? It’s all past tense now… time to forget about it.” She started to dance again, hoping that he’d just let it go.

“Look, Soonie, we can’t forget this,” he said, holding her still. “When was this? What did she say? Tell me!”

Sam Soon frowned at him. “Okay, the day’s been ruined. Happy now? Let’s go home.”


***
How was it possible that Sam Shik had the power to emotionally take her from an ultimate high to an ultimate low in a split second? He’d been very angry with her the entire train ride home because she refused to say anything more about what his mother had said. Why couldn’t’ he just leave her alone? She really didn’t want to have to relive all that anymore, after all, she’d moved on to Tae Young.

Tae Young. Her fiancé. That’s the only man she should be worried about? Right? She wasn’t using him? Right? He was the kind of man that she could marry. The kind of man she’d always hoped she could marry – someone who was always looking out for her. Someone dependable. Someone who didn’t get on her nerves. Someone who understood that no meant no. Someone who wasn’t a Mama’s boy. Someone who would stand up to his mother and fight for her. Someone won’t just let time pass by without fighting for them. She looked at her engagement ring. But, shouldn’t she be more excited about getting married? Why did she feel so ambivalent about it? Maybe he was right – seeing Jin Hun was messing with her head. It really had been easier while he was away... at least then, he only lived in her thoughts. Tae Young is the man for you. Tae Young is the man for you, she chanted as she walked up the hill to her house. Then it hit her – she hadn’t even shared her good news with 'the man for her'.

She reached into her bag and picked up her phone. She’d forgotten that she’d turned it off earlier and immediately switched it on. The display read that she’d missed 15 calls.

She was about to go through them when she heard Tae Young’s voice call her from a little ways ahead. She looked up as he jogged down to her.

“Where have you been?” he said, hugging her. “I’ve been so worried.”

When she disentangled from his embrace she said, “I went to Siheung. What’s up? Were you the one that called me so many times?”

He nodded. “I’ve got some news for you,” he said cautiously.

Sam Soon felt goose bumps popping all over her body. What could he possibly have to say to her? She wasn't being obvious, was she? Please, don’t be mad; I am sure I can love you if I try harder, she silently pleaded.

He held her hand. “I had to book our flight to New York for next Wednesday.”

Sam Soon blinked. “What?”

He ran his other hand through his hair. “I think my mother’s getting sick again. My father wouldn’t say anything definite so we have to go up there. Wednesday was the earliest I could get. Is that okay with you?”