Bu Seok
"We playing two on two today?"
Lee Young-min asks as he tosses me a basketball. I shrug and toss the ball to Du Shin-Il who is glaring at Lee Young-min.
"Not sure, Kang Il said he might have someone else joining us."
"Kang Il is coming?" Lee Young-min asks.
I nod and sigh, "Don't be mad. I thought you two had—"
"I'm not. Just surprised he can come with everything going on at the stadium."
"Don't worry, I can still make time for my new best friends," Kang Il's dry humor joins the conversation and I turn to see him and two others joining Lee Young-min, Du Shin-Il, and I on the studio lot's basketball court.
I recognize Ryan Jae as one of Kang Il's guests, but am uncertain of the other one's identity.
"Who are your friends?" I ask, mostly acknowledging the stranger since both Du Shin-Il and Lee Young-min were familiar with Ryan Jae.
Hopefully Lee Young-min will be magnanimous that his former love rival is apparently playing with us today.
Kang Il lets out a huff and points at the newcomer, "This is Ca Jin-Ho, my roommate and the newest Seoul Eagle."
Warning bells go off in my head and my jaw drops as I stare at the former boyfriend of one Tae Men.
If Lee Young-min doesn't start something, Kang Il might.
"The blobfish is too kind," Ca Jin-Ho chuckles. He opens his hands and Du Shin-Il tosses him the ball.
"Who are you calling a blobfish?" Kang Il growls.
"Sorry, that's what Tae Men always called you, guess the name stuck."
Warning. Warning. Warning!!!
Kang Il doesn't respond with anything other than an eye roll and a grunt.
"Well, it's nice to meet you. We don't get to play 3 on 3 very often," Lee Young-min nods, showing off his pearly whites with a grin.
He seems more chipper than usual.
"Let's go," Du Shin-Il coughs.
We play a few games over the course of the next hour and unsurprisingly, Kang Il sucks in all 3 rounds. At the end, we're all huffing and puffing, with the exception of the professional athletes of course, who seem fairly relaxed after having ran around for an hour.
"You've got skills," I admit, nodding at Kang Il's teammates. "Wasn't sure since—"
"Since I suck at basketball?" Kang Il supplies, sucking down some water.
I shrug and everyone else nods.
"Xiao Mei Cheng offered to bring us by some food," Du Shin-Il mumbles as he stares at his phone.
"Is Vivi with her?"
"She's at the bookstore writing; should I ask her to join?"
"NO. No girlfriends," I grumble, thumping the basketball sitting between my legs.
"What, why not?" Lee Young-min pouts.
"I know the answer to this one," Kang Il snorts.
His rare laughter has everyone, myself included, looking over at him in shock.
"How do you know?" I demand.
"Tae Men told me."
"How does she—"
My mind flips back to our conversation at the stadium and I look down at the ground and pout.
"Traitor."
"Wait, the wine spill story was you?" Ca Jin-Ho asks with a guffaw.
I snarl at him and Kang Il looks at the newcomer with a glare mimicking my own.
"She told you too?! I don't even know you!" Exasperation fills my voice and I see snickers coming from Du Shin-Il and Lee Young-min.
"Does everyone know this story except for me apparently?" Ryan Jae asks.
"Yes," everyone choruses and I throw the basketball at Kang Il to vent my frustrations.
"I'll tell you later," Kang Il comments.
"When did you two become such good friends?" I demand, glaring at the two baseball players. "I thought you guys hated one another?"
Kang Il shrugs and Ryan Jae doesn't respond as he takes a sudden interest in tying his shoe.
"Does no one care about my heartache?
"You're the one who failed on your blind date; don't blame us," Du Shin-Il mutters.
"It wasn't a complete failure!"
"Have you talked to Miss Lee since the date or are you still hiding away in shame? I can ask Vivian to see how she's—"
"Leave your girlfriend out of it; I already get sick at the idea you stole her away from me, now seeing you all lovey dovey doesn't help," I joke. "Next thing I know I'll be forced to attend your engagement party and buy you—"
Du Shin-Il and Lee Young-min share a furtive look and I let out a moan, throwing myself back onto the court and splaying like a starfish.
"Eomeoni will never leave me alone now!" I wail.
"What is happening?" Ca Jin-Ho mutters.
"If I had to guess, Lee Young-min asked his girlfriend, Vivian Jones the famous romance novelist, to marry him," Ryan Jae supplies helpfully.
I sit up and point a finger at him, "YOU are not helping! You should be just as outraged since you were a love rival too!"
Ca Jin-Ho looks at his teammate with wide eyes, "You were?"
"I was not," Ryan Jae rolls his eyes. "Even if I was, Miss Jones found her man and I'm incredibly happy for her and Sj."
"Who is Sj?" Ca Jin-Ho asks.
"My son," Lee Young-min grins widely, "Or my son-to-be I should say. He's 7 and wants to play baseball professionally too. He plays short stop, but the coach is having him try out for catcher here soon."
"I'm happy to test him out some time if you'd like," Ca Jin-Ho suggests.
I growl and lay back on the ground, covering my face with my hands.
"This is so not helping..." I mumble.
"Did you expect me to wait until you found your own woman to propose to so your mom would leave you alone?" Lee Young-min snorts.
"I thought you could at least wait until I found a girlfriend!"
"At this rate, you'll be single forever."
"The date was that bad?" Ryan Jae asks with a laugh.
"Worse than you can imagine," Du Shin-Il coughs. "Be glad it wasn't you on it."
"Oh, I don't date anymore," Ryan Jae sips on his water. "No need to."
"Because the women come flocking to handsome baseball players like ourselves?" Ca Jin-Ho flexes his muscles.
"Nah, I'm getting married."
Silence falls over the group and I sit up and stare at my friend, "YOU'RE WHAT?"
Ryan Jae shrugs and continues to nurse his water bottle as he stares off into the distance, "It's for my family's sake. Trust me, I was just as surprised as you." He places the cap on his water bottle and looks at the ground as he leans back on his hands.
"An arranged marriage?" Lee Young-min grimaces.
"Business partnership; apparently our families know each other well and wanted to establish—anyways, I don't have a say in the matter; I haven't even met her yet. She's busy with her job so I have to wait a month or two and she doesn't have social media and is camera shy so I don't even know what she looks like..."
The newest member of our basketball group, Ca Jin-Ho, sends me a look that screams "Cause she looks like a horse probably," which I can't argue with unfortunately.
I was thinking it too...
"Wow—"
"Double wedding with you and Lee Young-min? Seems fitting." Kang Il throws out.
Sometimes I forget he actually has a sense of humor. Damn, if the topic wasn't so serious, I would have done a spit take.
Lee Young-min does proceed to do a spit take at the dry joke and even Du Shin-Il cracks a smile.
"So, you're telling me that half of us are married or on the way to marriage? Guess that's how we'll split up teams next time," Ca Jin-Ho snorts.
"What happens when I join their ranks and teams aren't even anymore?" I demand.
"I think Kang Il is more inclined to get a girl than you at this rate," Ryan Jae throws out.
I sit up and cross my arms, "His love rival lives in the SAME HOUSE as him; how does that make it easier for him than for me! I don't have a love rival!"
"That you know of," Lee Young-min adds.
"When did this become gang up on Bu Seok day?!"
The guys all laugh and high fives are exchanged as I send an evil look around the group.
"If you're so worried about her having a love rival, I can ask my wife-to-be to check in with her," Lee Young-min offers.
I shake my head and turn to Du Shin-Il, "Have your woman do it. Then I won't feel as crappy about a married man playing cupid for me."
Du Shin-Il rolls his eyes but I notice a small blush rising on his cheeks.
I gasp and clutch at my heart, "NOT YOU TOO!"
Du Shin-Il shakes his head and pulls out his phone to text Xiao Mei Cheng.
"Not yet," Lee Young-min grins. "But he went with me when I was picking up Vivian's ring and I saw him eyeing a couple."
"We're not ready for that yet," Du Shin-Il states. "Xiao Mei Cheng has long-term career plans that she says she wants to focus on first."
"How did I get trapped with TWO married best friends? Eomeoni will never let me have a night off without a blind date until I'm safely married too."
"Why don't you just convince Catie-Lee to date you so she'll get off your back?"
"Why would she agree to do that? She says she's too busy to date."
Ryan Jae snorts, "Dude, aren't you supposed to be a writer? What's one of the biggest romance tropes of all time?"
I shrug, "Enemies to lovers?"
"How about fake dating to actually dating?" Lee Young-min chuckles. "That was done in my last drama; you loved it, remember?"
"So?"
"You said she has to date for her family's requirements, you want to actually date and fulfill your own family requirements, why not ask her to fake date and if it goes well, it'll evolve into real feelings on her part?"
I consider their suggestion and bob my head as I think.
"Do you think that would actually work?"
"Doesn't hurt to ask."
"She might think it's a weird idea."
"Should I ask one of the girls what they think?" Lee Young-min pulls out his phone and waves it at me, his screensaver of him, Sj, and Vivian flashing at me and adding more insult to injury.
"No." I hurry to say, "They know her. I can't risk them telling her I actually like her and mess things up."
"I know just who to ask then."
Lee Young-min types away on his phone and suddenly everyone in the vicinity gets a text, including Ca Jin-Ho.
"How'd you get his number?" My jaw drops.
"I sent it to him," Ryan Jae smiles.
I look at my phone and see that Lee Young-min has created a new group chat, one with him in it for once, involving everyone on the court and two additional members.
Actress Gar Yung-Hee and Coach Gal Jii.
"Why is coach in the chat?" Ca Jin-Ho asks.
"His wife is a love guru and I didn't want to get in trouble for keeping him out of the loop," Lee Young-min's logic is clear, but all I can think about is that one more person was privy to my embarrassing love life history.
Or lack thereof.
Lee Young-min: Would it be wrong or weird if someone were to ask a girl he's interested in to 'fake date' in an effort to get closer to her if it will benefit both parties?
Gar Yung-Hee's reponse is almost immediate.
"Who's asking?" I read aloud.
A second text comes in quickly.
Gal Jii: Is this for Bu Seok, Kang Il, or Ca Jin-Ho?
Gar Yung-Hee: That's who the other numbers are I presume?
Gal Jii: Yes, my love
Gar Yung-Hee: If it's Kang Il, then I'd say it's a no-go since he knows the girl he's loved since he was what, 5? Ca Jin-Ho, maybe? I don't know his situation to be able to comment. Ryan Jae is far too handsome to need that to get a girl's attention. As for Bu Seok, is he that desperate to try such an outdated method?
Kang Il voices his contempt for her words, muttering about 'terrible gossips' and prepares to go full 'keyboard warrior' when the realization that I am that desperate hits me and I let out a sigh.
I close out of the group chat to save my pride from seeing Gal Jii's response and open up my messages where a confirmation text revolving around our blind date gone bad sits from Catie-Lee. I stare at her contact card before typing a message to the woman pushing me to desperate lengths.
Catherine Lee
Book Club Group Chat:
Lee Soojin: Have you guys thought about what book we want to read for our first romance novel book club?
Vivian Jones: As long as it's not one of my own, then I'm down for whatever.
Yun Goo: How about a sports romance? Those have been popular lately?
Xiao Mei Cheng: Oooo, yummy
Vivian Jones: I'm fine with that!
Yun Goo: A baseball romance sounds like fun...
Catie-Lee: Seriously? Given all of the sports, you chose baseball?
Lee Soojin: I'm not really super into athletes honestly
Yun Goo: What about a military/bad boy romance?
Xiao Mei Cheng: Sounds like a good option
Xiao Mei Cheng: I am partial to the bad boy look
Catie-Lee: Any recommendations from Booktok?
Vivian Jones: Thursday night at my place and we can discuss our options in person? I'll kick Lee Young-min and Sj over to Du Shin-Il's
Xiao Mei Cheng: I'll bring wine
Lee Soojin: I'll bring Japanese food
Yun Goo: I've got a bottle of soju to open!
Catie-Lee: I'll bring different book options!
***
"You've been busy lately," Abeoji comments as he cuts into his steak.
I nod, sipping on the glass of wine the server had brought to our table.
"I have been indeed."
"The store is doing well?"
"I had a record month due to some signed copies of a romance novel series," I admit. "The author also agreed to do a signing next month of her newest series so there's been an uptick in traffic."
"Glad to see that you're doing well."
Silence fills the air and I feel a 'suggestion' coming my way from my nosy father.
"If things are going well at the store and you have some time available, I think it's time for you to hold up your end of our arrangement..."
"Daddy, I already—"
"Your date with Bu Seok does not count," he states, his mustache twitching as he sips on his whiskey.
"You remembered his name?" I ask in surprise. "What? Why?"
"He was memorable," he shrugs.
He was...memorable?
"Anyways, I have a classmate who has a son a couple of years younger than you. Originally we were considering Lee Soo-jin, but I figured she's met—"
"Bu Seok and I are dating!" I blurt out, my stomach crawling at the thought of another blind date to sit through and suffer from.
He blinks.
"What? Since when?"
"I might have lied about covering for Lee Soojin, but I actually knew Bu Seok from before. That part was true. And we had a fun night in the end. We've been messaging and he asked me out."
I mean he asked you to talk, not necessarily a date or to be his girlfriend, but semantics, right?
"Really? That's...interesting."
"Our date was," I chuckle as I think about the stained coat still sitting in the back of my car in a drycleaner's bag.
"Well, if that's the case, I'm sure Yun Goo would love to fill me in on it."
My father pulls out his cell phone and dials Yun Goo's phone number, quickly putting the call on speaker. My eyes grow wide as she quickly answers the phone, chirping happily, "Papa Lee!"
"Yun Goo, my dear, how are you?"
"Better than ever! What can I do for you?"
I open my mouth to say something but he shoots me a stern look and my mouth snaps closed and I set my head on the table ready to faint.
Oh I'm so done for. There's no escaping these dates after this little white lie.
"Catie-Lee says she's seeing someone, any idea who it is?"
Yun Goo stays quiet on the phone and my heart drops as she says, "I'm not really sure honestly."
Come on Yun Goo, read my mind and SAVE me!
"She didn't mention anything to you, her best friend?"
"Well, she did mention something, but I don't know if I should—"
"How do you feel about going to the islands with us over the holidays?"
"Well, when you ask so nicely I have to admit, there's been this handsome writer that's been chasing after her. She seems to like him back and while Bu Seok isn't necessarily my cup of tea..."
"Bu Seok you say?"
"She met him at the store, but ended up on a bad blind date with him..."
"Bad blind date?"
"He made a mess of it, but I guess it was charming since she did come back with a grin on her face and wasn't even mad about the tragedy of her coat getting ruined."
"What happened to her coat?"
"He spilled wine all over her beautiful white coat. Her favorite one too."
"Oh really? The one from—"
"The 'Prada' one. She was heartbroken when the drycleaners couldn't save it from ruin."
"I'll have to buy her a new one," he murmurs, looking over at me, surprise clearly written on his face at the faux information Yun Goo was feeding him. "Well, thank you for the information and I will plan on seeing you and your companion of choice over the holidays per usual."
"Of course, Papa Lee!"
They end the call and I feel a little less sick to my stomach as he stares me down.
"Bu Seok, huh?"
"Uncle set up the blind date originally so you can't say he's not good enough for me," I laugh weakly.
Oh gosh he's gonna try and find a way to prove I'm lying.
"That's true."
He's getting ready for the second wave of attack.
"And before you say—"
"Guess I'll need to contact the Bus and set up a time for us all to have dinner."
Wait, what?
"What?"
"My daughter is so discerning when it comes to dating that obviously this is serious. I think we should set up a meeting of the parents," he smirks. "Unless you have any objections?"
Other than Bu Seok and I not really dating? What else?
"I haven't met the Bus yet myself; isn't it too sudden to—"
"Oh, right, of course! Set a date to meet them yourself and report back to me so I can set a date to meet them myself. And of course a formal dinner so I can meet your new boyfriend myself."
"Daddy," I begin weakly.
"Oh this is just great. If you marry before Lee Soojin your uncle owes me a new set of clubs," he grins.
He starts cutting his steak and starts rambling rapidly about his other businesses while I try and decide if telling the truth would do me more harm than good right now.
Oh Cate, what have you gotten yourself into?