Postcards From Africa

*2*

Getting to Seoul was tiring and all Tae wanted was a hot bath, a couple of hours alone with some snacks and a movie. She was not particularly fond of long distance travelling but the group of companies she was working with had come across some upcoming small company in Seoul that promised lots of potential and profits.

As one of the shareholders and trusted analyser, Tae had been assigned to travel in order to assess the business and hear this man, Choi Hyun's proposal.

Tae already didn't like Choi even though she had never seen or met him. As a shareholder, she did not appreciate it when nepotism played out in a company that she was one of the major shareholders of.

Choi's application reached her desk through the CEO of one of the companies Tae owned. When she confronted the CEO, he simply told her that most of the shareholders had voted in favor of Choi because his family knew someone who was very high up and was interested in investing in the group of companies.

The group of companies had been of Tae's own family and friends' creation, comprised of various small family businesses that eventually blossomed until the group expanded globally.

And now, after hiring only people that were qualified and experienced enough to join the companies, here was someone who got in through connections.

And she was assigned to him.

This trip to Seoul was not going to be nice.

As soon as she got to the house the company was renting out for her, she quickly freshened up before instructing the driver assigned to her to take her to the apartment where she had agreed to meet Choi Hyun. She didn't even know why she was so unprofessional to agree to meet him where he lived.

As the car dropped her off at the gated apartment building, she asked the driver to leave and that she'd take a cab when she wanted to go back to her place.

After Choi buzzed her in, she got into the lift and walked up to the apartment number which he had given her, fixing her silky long curly cherry hair and adjusting the turquoise women's suit she wore, exposing some cleavage in a negligee that served as a shirt under the blazer.

She rang the doorbell.

And an almost tan, tall man in a crew cut answered, dressed in a knitted cardigan and checkered pants, some indoor sleepers on his feet. His dark brown orbs stared in surprise at her.

So did the teenager and older man behind him.

Tae smiled politely, reaching her hand out. "You must be Mr. Choi Hyun. I'm Taera Lobane. Tae for short."

Choi seemed to be so shocked that he did not hear a single thing, frozen with his stare at most probably her caramel skin, her face put together with a smoky eyeshadow that made her dark wells pop and a matte red lipstick on her plump lips. Her prominent cheeks stood out some more what with the contouring, giving her the look of one of the famous African models, Adut Akech.

The teenager grabbed Tae's brown manicured hand and gave a polite bow, smiling at her. "Jang Ki Hyun. Pleased to meet you," he said in perfect English.

Tae smiled back. "The pleasure is all mine, Jang Ki Hyun."

"You have beautiful name," Jang said looking at her hand which he had not let go of. "And very soft hands...like dumpling."

This seemed to bring Choi back to earth and he quickly pulled his brother away from the slightly confused lady that stood before him.

"You are being creepy," he whispered before turning back to Tae. "I am sorry for being impolite...I am Choi Hyun, the man you are supposed to have a meeting with."

His accent was very heavy.

"Taera Lobane. Everybody calls me Tae."

"Please...um...do come in."

Tae greeted the older man who just stared, still shocked. "Black woman," he said.

Tae nodded. "Yes. I am a black woman."

"But your name Tae. Korean name-"

"Abeoje (father)!" Choi hastily interrupted. "Jang, take him home so that I can get started on my meeting."

The teenager nodded then turned to Tae with another bow. "Make my brother very rich, yes?"

Tae simply shrugged. "We'll see."

"I love Nicki Minaj and Cardi B," Jang said with a grin, staring at her cleavage which the negligee had done much justice to.

Tae tried not to read the underlying meaning and simply stepped into the house as Jang and the older man left.

"Please have a seat."

Tae removed her shoes and went to sit down on the white couch in the lounge area, barefoot. When she looked up from the tablet in her hands, Choi Hyun was staring at her, still looking with disbelief at her.

She cleared her throat. "There was no mix up. The group of companies really sent a black woman to Korea to come meet up with you and assess how lucrative your business may or may not be. I'm the best you are getting. If you are uncomfortable with me being here, keep it to yourself and let's get this meeting over and done with."

"I'm not uncomfortable-"

She interrupted him. "Don't lie to me, Mr. Hyun," she said, her darker eyes meeting his slightly lighter ones. The polite smile she wore earlier was now a ghost. She had seen his expression when he saw her. It was shock...but with that shock, was the expression of someone uncomfortable with her presence. It could be nerves...or it could be a much less savoury issue.

It didn't matter anyway because Tae was here to close or reject this deal then go back home.

Choi cleared his throat. "Excuse my manners...would you like anything to drink? Water, soda, tea, coffee?" He gave her a polite smile. "My mother made Chilli Soju Soup. Would you like to try it?"

She put on some cat's eye reading glasses, turned back to her tablet, searching for something. "Maybe some other time, Mr. Hyun. I am rather in a hurry if you don't mind. Aha!" She tapped on her tablet screen then looked up at the man that still stood at the door. "Aren't you going to sit down?"

He stiffly walked over and grabbed a bench that was as short as a footstool before sitting before Tae, his legs crossed.

"So...I have already gone over your proposal..." Tae said, getting straight into business.

She spent the next couple of hours showing Choi, who very much did not appreciate being corrected by her because according to her, even things that he would have rather kept the way they were, she wanted them changed all in the name of "making the product môre appealing to international markets."

But regardless, he listened as she navigated through his proposal, not even taking a break.