Catherine Lee
Yun Goo is openly staring at two of my customers. She doesn't try and hide her stare in the slightest despite me having warned her she'd get thumped if she keeps it up.
I flick her ear and she glares at me.
"What?"
"Stop staring at my customers; it makes them uncomfortable."
"Cate, look at the pair," she nods to the duo facing each other in the manga section.
The woman is tall and slender, her long legs accented by studded heels that make her model height. She's wearing pink pants, a white t-shirt, and pastel blazer and is staring her exact opposite down. The man across from her is in all black: black boots, black jeans, and a plain black t-shirt. He's got his arms crossed as he glares at her.
"What is going on?"
"I don't know, but I'm afraid there's going to be a brawl."
"I'll handle it. Dial up security just in case."
Yun Goo nods and goes to the storage room that doubles as my office to make the call.
I steel myself to prepare to intercede on behalf of the woman as I walk up and stand next to her.
"Is there a problem over here?"
My voice is full of fake cheer as I carefully watch between the two strangers who are glaring at each other.
"Yes," she says firmly. She turns to me and the man simply drones, "No. We're fine."
"He's being—"
"If he's bullying you, Miss, I have security on their way. I will have him escorted out."
"Me bully her?" the man scoffs.
He puts his hands on his hips and cocks a brow at the woman. What looks like a thick cut in his brow stands out to me, but I ignore it and step between the two as he points a finger at her.
"Sir, if you can't—"
"It's alright, Miss... he's just grumpy that I'm making him bring home 10 new books for my godson and has been accused of being a bully to me when—"
I deflate as the man lets out a growl at the woman's giggle.
"You're the bully, Xiao Mei Cheng. Sj does not need 10 new books—"
"Didn't you hear Vivi talk about his new love interest? We need to make sure he's up to date on that series he's reading if he stands a chance!"
I look between the pair and realize that these two are, in fact, not a bully and a victim, but rather a teasing girlfriend and exasperated boyfriend. I prepare to back away awkwardly, but am stuck against a bookshelf and can't escape due to their hand gestures.
"He doesn't need—"
"It's my money, why argue?"
"Miss Jones will kill me if I bring more books to her house. She's running out of room!"
"It's in the name of love! Or future love!"
"You don't need to buy them, he can borrow them from the library. Why waste the money at all?"
"It's my money to waste. I have plenty of it, might as well fund a good cause."
I look back and forth between the duel they fight verbally as watch as the conversation spans from books to money to spending it on his brothers to where they should go for dinner.
I'm dizzy by the end of the interaction and while I wasn't expecting the security team to be rescuing me, I'm glad for the excuse to escape their debate.
I return to my hiding hole behind the coffee counter and glare at Yun Goo.
"What happened?"
"Not quarrelling strangers, but a couple debating their purchases."
"Who will win?"
I look over at the tall pair and take in their appearances again. On my second look, I realize that despite her pastel clothes, her style is much fiercer than I was expecting. Her heels have studs sticking out, she's got her black and neon hair teased into two puff balls, and wears vibrant lipstick like a war horse wears armor.
She's like the Asian version of Athena, Goddess of war.
"She will. I think she probably bullies him more than he was her," I chuckle. "I hope she does win. The more money she spends, the better."
Yun Goo laughs, "The store does well, Cate."
"It can always do better."
"True, but it's not like you're hurting for sales."
"Maybe not, but running this well makes it harder for my family to argue that I should work for them and not follow my own dreams."
"Well then let's try and convince the next guests to get extra sweet treats."
Yun Goo and I putter around the coffee bar, cleaning and restocking the shelves for the next rush. I lean over the back counter and start sketching out our next menu idea, tracing out the shape of a fat cat lounging on a stack of books and croissants. A small cough comes from the checkout. I turn and see the woman from before staring at me.
"Hello! Sorry about that, my coworker must have gone to the bathroom! What can I get you?"
"What do you recommend?"
"The lavender lemonade is pretty good. It matches your blazer, too."
"Aesthetic and delicious? Perfect. I'll take two mediums and a couple of chocolate croissants as well."
"For here or to go?"
She looks around. Her eyes catch on my sketchpad.
"For here."
I quickly pull her pastries and make her drinks, wondering if she was this bold with all strangers or if my interference earlier made her question my sanity as she stares me down and watches my every move.
To be fair, she is literally waiting on what's in your hand so it makes sense for her to watch you.
I hand her the purple concoction and she takes a quick sip, "Delicious! Great recommendation!"
"Thanks," I blush. "About earlier..."
"Oh yes, thank you for making Du Shin-Il see the error of his ways. He sometimes forgets to keep his grouchy self in the privacy of his own home."
I laugh at her words and nod, "I'm sure lots of people are like that."
"What are you sketching?" she points at my sketchpad and I hand it to her.
She flips through the pages of chalkboard sketches until she reaches the one currently sketched on the board behind me.
"You drew that?"
A purple dinosaur winking is dancing on the chalkboard and various versions of it have been painted on the glass windows around the children's section.
"Yup, I try and change it out based on the week's pastry promotion."
"That's so cool!"
"We get our pastries from the Hidden Forest café. My friend owns that so she gives me a heads up on their pastry special so I can match my sketch to the theme."
"What's your next one?" She flips to the next page and sees my half-finished sketch of a fat cat on the pastries.
"Cute!"
"Thanks! I'm debating on what the cat will look like, right now, but I know it'll be a cat-shaped croissant."
"Du Shin-Il's friend has this huge fat, naked cat. He would die of laughter if he got a cat-shaped pastry."
"Feel free to bring him by next week. I'll have the new pastry theme in place by Monday."
"I will definitely be back, and I'll try to bring Lee with us. I'll make Du Shin-Il drag him with me if I have to!"
"I'm always glad to add more regulars to my roster."
"I'm Xiao Mei Cheng," she holds out her hand and I shake it.
"That's really interesting. I was expecting an American name," I admit.
"What, did my accent give it away? I'm working on it."
I chuckle and shake my head, "My accent isn't the native Seoul version either so I have no judgement on that, I promise. I grew up in the states as well but came back in high school."
"Oh wow, where are you from?"
"Chicago."
"St. Louis. Next time I'll try and drag my friends along with. She's an American, born and raised, so if you're comfortable speaking in English, I'm sure she'd love to make a new friend! She's a writer so she especially loves bookstores."
"Oh wow, that would be great! Has she written anything I might recognize?"
Xiao Mei Cheng lets out a sheepish smile, "Possibly; you'd have to ask her when she comes. She's much better at talking about it than I am."
"Of course."
"Miss Jones needs me back at the studio; are we ready to go?"
The man from earlier comes over with a stack of at least 15 books and Xiao Mei Cheng sends me a grin, sarcasm lacing her voice, "This is Du Shin-Il. Du Shin-Il, this is—"
She looks back at me and her mouth drops open, "I just realized I never asked you for your name."
"It's Catherine, no worries."
He nods his head at me in acknowledgement.
"We have to bring Vivi and Lee Young-min here next week. What does her schedule look like next Monday?"
Du Shin-Il rolls his eyes before pulling out his phone, "You could just ask her yourself. You do live with her."
"Yeah, but it's easier to ask you. Her assistant."
They block off a time to visit with their friends and I send them on their way.
That was interesting.
I look back down at my sketch and smile as I make some adjustments to turn my cat into a naked one instead.
Kang Il
Bu Seok had been assigned to follow me around the stadium and Gal Jii had paired him with me for warmups so he could experience what it was like to prepare for a game. We helped me warm up my shoulders by playing catcher and I stare around the field, anxious for Tae Men's arrival on the field.
"Dude, if you keep grinding your teeth like that you won't have any," Bu Seok grumbles. "I get you're anxious to get me off your field, but I'm not here to bother you."
"I'm not worried about you—"
"Kang Il! The PR liaison is looking for you in the sky box. Touch base with her before the pregame meeting," Coach Chang Dong yells.
I nod and run from the field, throwing my glove aside at an aid as I jog through the dugout, locker rooms, and the stadium up to the Owner's sky box. Bu Seok is following behind me at a short distance, grumbling about the sudden change in schedule, but I ignore him.
I near the doors to the sky box and slow down to a casual walk. My sudden change of pace causes Bu Seok to slam on his brakes, nearly crashing into me as he changes from a jog to a walk to match my pace.
"Kang Il, what the hell—"
I enter the sky box and see Tae Men talking to one of the owners with a pint of beer in her hand.
She turns and looks at me, unimpressed at my speedy appearance.
"Kang Il, thank you for joining us. Mr. Bu, how are you today?"
I forgot these two have met.
I nod at her and turn to the man she had been speaking to.
Lee Tae-Moo was a chaebol who had taken an interest in professional baseball from its start in South Korea many years before. His business acumen had been quickly applied to the team and his 'brand' had quickly caused other companies to invest heavily in the sport. Now as the retired Chairman of Lee Industries, he spent most of his days at the stadium keeping an eye on the team, talking about his daughters, and of course, keeping tabs on me to see if I was acting as picture perfect version of a professional baseball player. Unfortunately, due to my 'unmanageable personality,' but incredible talent, I didn't fit his idea of perfection.
I am the very bane of his existence.
"I'm good, Miss Tae. Chairman Lee, good to see you in excellent health. I appreciate your allowance of my presence with the team," Bu Seok bows his head and Lee Tae-Moo beams at him before sending me a stern look.
"Mr. Kang, I understand from Miss Tae Men that you have been following her directions to the letter. I am pleased to hear that and hope you will continue to do so."
I nod.
"Tae Men, oh how funny your name is to me," he returns to their conversation, and I wait for further instructions or to be dismissed. "It's like we're peas in a pod."
"Just wait until you hear—"
"UNNIE!"
Tae Men lets out a sigh and looks at the ground with a slightly bemused smile before turning to the door to greet a small child.
And that's when the madness begins.
It wasn't often that I 'forgot' something about Tae Men, but in this very moment, I was wishing I had more of a recollection of what it was like when the entire Tae family came to events together.
Member after member of the Tae family files into the sky box shouting various things, hugging Bu Seok (to his and my surprise) and passing around buckets of popcorn and pints of beer. Tae Men expertly dodges her family member's sudden hugs, the beer in her hand never once coming close to spilling, a skill she certainly had learned over the course of the last 15 years.
All 5 of her siblings is scattered across the room and I recognize Tae Moon and Tae Min-Ki. Her sister, Tae Mi-Sun, and her parents and grandparents are familiar faces.
"Wow, this is all of your family?" Lee Tae-Moo asks. "I heard you had requested multiple tickets for family members, but this is quite unexpected!"
"Chairman Lee, you find my name amusing, do you not? Let me introduce you to my family."
Tae Men's face lights up in amusement as she starts rattling off the names of her many siblings, "This is Tae Mi-Sun, Tae Moon, Tae Min-Ki, Tae Min-Jee, Tae Mirae. Tae Jae, my father, and Je Soo-Yun, my mother. And these are my grandparents."
"Was it a cult?" Bu Seok mutters, "I thought it was just Du Shin-Il who came from such a big family. Are any of them adopted?"
"Her parents had the last two later on in life, but no, I'm pretty sure they're all siblings by blood," I respond. "Du Shin-Il is Miss Jones' assistant, correct?"
Bu Seok sends me a wary look, "You're not gonna make some shitty comment about her, are you?"
I shake my head.
"Good. Because she's a nice lady."
"So, I've heard."
While the group chatters away with my boss, Bu Seok looks between me and the Tae family.
"You seem to have some sort of history with Tae Men. Care to share?"
"No. I barely know her."
"Gal Jii said you said 'please' to him so you could speak to her in private. How can you say that? Seems a bit out of character."
"You would know you're the writer," I snap. His words register and I turn to him, "How did you know that?"
"Know what?" Bu Seok asks innocently.
"That I said please?"
"His wife told me."
I scoff and let out a growl at the new information.
"You know his wife too?"
"Who else does?"
"Tae Men apparently worked for the studio and his wife in some regard."
Bu Seok leans on his heels and I watch as he scrolls through his memories.
"Are you certain?"
"That's what she said."
"Huh, I didn't know that. Must've been for a different show then."
"Anyways—"
"Chairman Lee, you must have a son or nephew that you can set our Tae Men up with! You can see how exceptional she is!"
Mrs. Je, Tae Men's mother, and Chairman Lee's conversation forces me to look away from Bu Seok and eavesdrop on their new topic.
"Eomeoni, you know I don't—"
"I don't have any sons or nephews, only a niece and my daughter, but I do have an entire roster of mostly single professional baseball players."
I grin at the thought.
Like me, Chairman Lee.
"Tae Men used to date one of your players a while back. Ever since, she's refused to date professional athletes," Mrs. Je sighs.
My jaw drops at the new information. My blood boils at the thought of Tae Men dating a baseball player, but I keep my thoughts to myself.
"Besides, the only one of interest is Ryan Jae, let's be honest," Tae Min-Jee, Tae Men's sister, cackles. "He's by far the most handsome out of the entire league. He even beats out Ca Jin-Ho."
Handsome? Ryan Jae? Maybe if you want a baby face.
"I'm sure Ca Jin-Ho would love to know you think that. He's playing against the Eagles today," Tae Men's voice is full of humor as she addresses her younger sister.
"He's here? Really?" Mr. Tae asks, addressing his daughter. "When was the last time you saw him? When you two broke—"
"They see each other quite often for being exes," Tae Moon coughs.
"Is this really an appropriate conversation to be having at work?" I sneer.
Everyone in the room turns to look at me and I feel my haughtiness begin to fade at the glare Tae Men sends my way.
"Kang Il, I forgot you were here," I turn and see Chairman Lee directing his full attention to me. "This is the unmanageable portion of his personality I mentioned to you when we spoke last, Miss Tae."
My hand turns into a fist and I prepare to open my mouth with a snarky retort on hand but she sends me a withering look and I deflate.
"Kang Il—"
"Kang Il?"
Now that the conversation has been focused on me, I see varying looks of recognition, but Tae Men's mother's expression is what gets me. She stares at me, wide-eyed, her hand covering her mouth as her eyes fill with tears.
"Car—"
"Kang Il, go to the field. I'll be down with a press circuit momentarily," Tae Men intercedes.
She shoos me away and steps over to her mother who is staring at me like a lost-child returning from the past.
In some ways I guess I am that to her which is almost as painful as it was leaving Tae Men behind.
I nod and exit the room, not ready to face the story behind my sudden exit 16 years ago and leave the room where too much emotion and too much history has gathered.
***
I'm back on the field, supposed to be focusing on preparing for the game, but the only thing I can focus on is the smell of Tae Men's flowery perfume floating over to me as she directs me with more media training.
"I had to take classes when I was signed, you know?"
"And those were obviously so successful," she rolls her eyes and hands me a paper to review. "Polite, presentable, professional."
"That's easy—"
"If it's not the most beautiful girl in the world?"
A new voice calls out across the field.
A tall gentleman wearing our rival team's jersey walks on to the field for their warmup and waves at Tae Men. She squeals and runs over to the man who hugs her tightly and lifts her up from the ground, spinning her around.
That's her ex...? Are we certain they're not still together?
"TaeTae, my darling, how are you?"
Out of nowhere, an aid appears with a bouquet of fluffy flowers and the man I identify at Ca Jin-Ho hands them to a smiling Tae Men.
"Oh Jin-Ho, you remembered?"
"As though you'd ever let me live it down. That's our deal, right? How is the new job going?"
"Is she even capable of focusing on work over dating?" I find myself saying.
Bu Seok who had continued to follow me back to the field sends me a wary look, looking back at Tae Men whose face has turned ashen.
"What does that even mean?" She says quietly.
"Between fawning over your ex and begging for a date from my boss, hell he's your boss too, are you capable of focusing on your job or is it all about who you'll sleep with next."
Several gasps fill the air and she goes pale.
Why would you say that, you moron?
"What did you say?" Ca Jin-Ho growls and lunges for me.
Before his fist can make contact with me, Tae Men pulls him back and stares me down.
"There are cameras and microphones recording not 5 feet from you. Both of you, calm down and watch it."
She is the picture of calm and collected, but the fire in her eyes tells me otherwise.
"I thought I knew you better than this, Tae Men. Only caring about appearances not substance."
"You'd better learn that listening to my professional advice is the only way you'll be staying on this team. You're making a scene and making a mess."
"It's your job to clean it up, right?" I growl. Ca Jin-Ho lets out a growl and takes another step towards me, but she subtly flicks her fingers to him and he halts.
From the corner of my eye, I watch a coach enter the field and keep an eye on the scene playing out.
"As my client, yes my obligation is to work with you to—"
"Then do your damn job and stop flirting with our rival and get to work," I snap.
"Kang Il, get off the field. I need to speak to you, privately."
I nod and walk off the field, the blood in my body ready to boil over.
Tae Men follows after me at a steady pace, not in any hurry to reveal her annoyance to anyone else.
I rush forward, increasing my pace until I'm past the eyes of everyone on the field with just Tae Men following me.
I enter a brick tunnel and suddenly the sound of her heels clicking on the concrete speeds up and she finally raises her voice.
"CAR TAEYANG!" Tae Men screeches, huffing at me.
I turn and meet her eyes with steam rolling off my gaze.
Her glare is like lava, the heat from her honey-colored eyes attacking me to my core.
"Congrats, something other than your boyfriend has captured your attention. You do remember me from before?" I snap. "You know me. Finally, you admit it! You've done a pretty good job of pretending I don't exist in any way other than as your client. Even your mother—"
"I don't know you!"
She stomps her foot and crosses her arms. I begin to argue but her next words wound me more than any bullet or knife could, "I knew Car Taeyang. The boy who was my best friend, the boy who made me laugh, the boy who made it so I never was lonely even when I felt like my world was overwhelming and no one could understand me. I knew Car Taeyang: my friend, my birthday bestie, the boy who kiss—"
She stops suddenly and looks down at her feet before looking back at me, resigned anger apparent, "I knew him. And I miss him. I have missed him since he left without saying goodbye to me on my birthday almost 20 years ago. You are not that boy, Kang Il. You're not even a shadow of that boy."
"Minnifred—"
She stiffens and as though she's been possessed, her whole demeanor turns from mournful friend to angry coworker.
"The fact that you can't handle learning something new is on you, not me. So, stop treating me like your slave and either work with me or you can find someone else to get you out of this mess."
"Tae Min—"
"You can't treat people like garbage and expect them to be your friend afterwards. I understand things are harder for you than most given your history, but if you keep treating people like that, NO ONE will want to be your friend. I certainly don't."
She jabs her long slender finger into my chest and lets out a snarl. I flinch and back away from her as she stalks after me; her long legs clad in heels clicking against the floor as she pushes me against the wall.
"Stop acting like an ass and get your things together or I will very quickly find someone else to clean up your image or even better, make sure no one is stuck working with you ever again and then you won't get the help you so desperately need."
She steps away and straightens herself, brushing off an invisible piece of dust from her shoulders as she stands proudly in front of me.
"Learn how to be a proper human being again or leave me be."
She storms off and I simply sigh as she walks away. I slump against the wall, falling to my rear as I lean forward and put my head between my knees, swear words falling like water from my mouth.