Chapter 5 -Surprises
I woke up to the smell of breakfast – a fragrant mixture of maple syrup, bacon, coffee, and a blend of all other things I couldn't outright identify, and to the unmistakable sound of door-banging – probably Wonhee wrestling with the busted refrigerator door again. I rubbed my eyes to clear the images in my surroundings, yawning as I did so. Tipping my head up, I looked at the green digits of the clock on my bedside table.
7:17.
Too early. It was Sunday. I could sleep till noon if I wanted to, so I laid my head back to the comfort of my fluffy pillow, pulling back the downy sheets over my head... when I realized something.
Lee Jaewoong.
Hastily, I jumped off my bed, took a quick glance at myself on the dresser mirror, rummaged for necessary garments from the drawers, and slid a small headband through my hair before tiptoeing my way to the bathroom across the hall.
After finishing all my usual morning hygiene ritual, I stealthily slipped out of the bathroom, trying to refrain myself from making the floor creak. I paused for a moment as I passed by the room Jaewoong was staying in, thinking of the insane events last night and wondering if he slept well despite his contusions and the uncomfortable bedroom condition. I tried to listen if there was any sign of wakefulness inside, and when all I could hear was silence, I decided to go downstairs without waking him up.
"Ohayou," Wonhee greeted me as soon as I stepped into the kitchen. With her hair tied carelessly with a scrunchie, her oversized white house-shirt hanging loosely on one side – revealing her shoulder bone, and her stained, pink Hello Kitty apron, Wonhee looked like a young housewife rather than a no-boyfriend-since-birth twenty-two-year-old. "Where's your guest?" she asked, flipping over a perfectly discoid pancake. "Breakfast is almost ready. I just need to do one more pancake."
"I decided to let him rest some more," I said, glancing at the variety of appetizing foods already set on the table.
Wonhee made peach pancakes - utilizing some of the basketful of overripe peaches we didn't manage to eat before they had gone too mushy-, sunny side-up eggs, crisp strips of bacon, and round turkey sausages. There was also a pitcher of freshly-made peach smoothie at the end of the table, near the kitchen wall. Jars of peanut butter and homemade peach jelly stood right next to the pitcher.
"Don't you want your guest to join us for breakfast?" Wonhee asked as she dropped herself down to a chair across the table from me.
I thought for a moment but then decided against Wonhee's suggestion. "Nah, it's okay. I think I will let him sleep some more. I'm sure he'll come down when he gets hungry." I poured peach smoothie up to the rim of my glass and took a sip of it, licked the remnants that rested on my upper lip, and smacked the flavor with delight. "This is awesome, Wonhee-ah." I was in peach heaven.
"Thanks," Wonhee mumbled, busy grinding food in her mouth. "By the way, what's your boss's name again?"
"Lee Jaewoong," I said, jabbing a piece of pancake with my fork. A slice of peach fell off and landed on the edge of my plate; I picked it up with my fingers.
"Jaewoong Lee..." Wonhee re-stated then swallowed a mouthful. "He looked more like a Bruised Lee last night," she said, chuckling at her own joke.
"Wonhee-ah! Don't make fun of him. He suffered a lot, you know."
"Sorry... Sorry for making fun of your boyfriend," she said with a teasing tone.
"He's not my boyfriend!" I exclaimed with a restrained voice. "And remember what I told you. Pretend I'm gay, okay?"
Wonhee rolled her eyes to the side, pursing her lips. "I still don't get why you have to be gay to be his friend. But, whatever..." she said as she flooded her three-stack pancakes with maple syrup again. I had not told Wonhee about the growing feelings I had for Jaewoong nor the fact that I crashed into his car. Luckily, the scooter was at the shop at the moment, so I didn't have to worry about how to cover that up.
"You know, I think he's hot," Wonhee continued. "Almost as hot as your chicken-livered, no-principle ex-boyfriend..."
"Wonhee-ah, don't talk about Akira like that. You know he had his reasons." Reasons that took me a long while to accept, reasons that I only now began to understand. I let a few seconds pass before I continued. "So, you think Akira is hotter than Jaewoong?" I asked even though I begged to differ.
"Oh, I don't know. Akira has bigger eyes, but maybe Bruised Lee is hotter. He's taller than Akira, no?"
"Yeah, a couple of inches, I think," I said. Without heels, the top of my head leveled up to Akira's nose while it only reached up to Jaewoong's chin.
"And his muscles are more tone..." Wonhee added and then pushed something on her cell phone right next to her plate; a different picture replaced her phone wallpaper. "Damn, he's hot... If only his face wasn't messed up..." she said, staring at the picture.
"What are you looking at?" I asked, craning my neck to see the picture, curious.
Wonhee held the phone up and showed me the photo on her cell phone. It was Jaewoong's almost naked body from last night.
"You took a picture of him? You freakin' took a picture of him?" I asked in disbelief.
"Sshhh!" Wonhee shushed, placing her index finger against her lips. "He's staying at my house for free. I think I have the right to take whatever as his payment, and this picture is it."
"Oh my God, you are such a pervert," I said, shaking my head with feigned disgust.
"What? You didn't feel anything at all when you were undressing him? Don't tell me you've really become gay..."
Of course I felt something! She had no idea how I felt. I myself did not know where to begin to describe how I felt. Who couldn't feel anything when you're undressing a hot guy down to his underwear? But I did my best not to think about how attractive he was or take a second look at his ripped abs otherwise I would have been too jelly-kneed to finish cleaning his dirty body. Besides, my mind was still preoccupied with the mysteries and the dreadful turn of events that happened prior. But I couldn't deny nor hide the truth – I did feel something.
Before I could start spilling the attraction I felt last night, we heard a door close upstairs and footfalls started descending down the stairs.
Wonhee and I exchanged wide-eyed looks. "He's awake!" we said in unison. Quickly, Wonhee and I changed our topics from Jaewoong's hotness to recent news of Korean idols.
"So, I heard Kim Hyunjoong dated a celebrity before," Wonhee started. "Isn't that crazy? How on earth was he able to hide it from his fans?"
Wait. What? Kim Hyunjoong dated a celebrity before?
"Oh, hi there, Bruised Lee!" Wonhee greeted as Jaewoong walked into the kitchen, before I could react to the Kim Hyunjoong news.
I glared at Wonhee, I told you not to call him names! I muttered with frustration under my breath.
Jaewoong, still clothed in my white tee and my drawstring light-blue Care Bear pajamas, looked at us with a befuddled expression, touching the nape of his neck, as if to ask who was Bruised Lee.
Blinking and shaking his head slightly, he asked, "Where can I get water to drink?" He asked that question in his oh-so-sexy low-pitched bedroom voice.
For a moment, Wonhee and I just stared at Jaewoong, speechless, agape, and transfixed by his early-morn unassuming sexiness.
"In the fridge," Wonhee finally replied, her voice no better than a squeak.
Jaewoong walked over to the refrigerator and motioned to yank the door open. Then it hit Wonhee and me, realizing in rictus; we had forgotten that the problematic refrigerator door had to be held from the bottom when opening it or else the whole door would fall off.
And that was exactly what happened when Jaewoong pulled the handle.
Wonhee and I screamed simultaneously a little too late, watching the door fall on the floor with a loud thud, barely missing Jaewoong's feet.
"What the?!?!?!" Jaewoong exclaimed, staring at the fallen door with horror, his hand still on the handle. He jolted his head toward us and shot us a look of fear and apology mixed together. "I'm so sorry... I didn't mean to..."
Wonhee and I got up and walked over to him.
"It's okay. Don't worry. No biggie," Wonhee assured him. "Just help me lift this up and we can latch it back to place." With Jaewoong's soft grunts as he lifted the refrigerator door and Wonhee's ambiguous instructions of "To the right! To the right! No, to the left! To the left!", they managed to put back the door to its original place.
Jaewoong took the jug of water out while Wonhee held the door open for him, and then he joined us at the dining table, sitting at the end.
"So, Mr. Lee, we have some eggs, bacon, sausages, some peach pancakes, peach smoothie," Wonhee generously offered, "and if you'd like, you can have some peanut butter and peach jelly sandwiches, and there are some fresh peaches if you must have fruits."
Jaewoong smiled with wonderment, looking back and forth at me and Wonhee. "What's up with the peach-themed breakfast?" he asked. His left eye was slightly swollen from the fight last night and the cut on his lip was visibly discolored, but the Lee Jaewoong magnetism was still undeniably there.
"Uh... it's because we have peach overload in the house and they're rotting faster than a maggot-infested fish, so we're trying to consume them before we throw cartloads of peaches into the trash can," Wonhee explained.
"Why do you have a lot of peaches? Do you own a peach farm or something?" Jaewoong asked as I got up to get some coffee from the counter.
I could feel Wonhee cast a fleeting glance at me. Exhaling, she said, "From time to time, Sunmi gets cuckoo over peaches. She does it when she's depressed." I caught her gesturing circles around her right ear.
"Wonhee-ah!" I yelled, embarrassed.
"Aigoo... there's nothing to be embarrassed about," she said, brushing me off. Turning to Jaewoong again, she continued, "Anyways, the sight, smell, and taste of peaches soothe Sunmi's troubled emotions. It's her anti-depressant." It sounded a little strange hearing it from another person, but that was exactly how I felt about peaches.
Jaewoong turned around to look at me. "Is it because of your ex, Sunmi-ssi?" he asked.
"Ah, yes, of course," Wonhee answered for me. "Her ex, Aki---"
"Wonhee-ah!"
"---ko... That's her ex's name – Akiko," Wonhee finished. "Akiko... that's a girl's name, you know," she added, making it somewhat obvious that she was lying. Wonhee looked at me and I glowered at her, fearing that this blabbermouth that I call my best friend would blow my cover. "Anyways, Sunmi and Aki---ko were together for years, since high school, so naturally, she felt depressed when she heard that Akiko is getting married."
There was no stopping Wonhee from disclosing my personal life to Jaewoong. I had a feeling that she would somehow let on somewhere in her incessant blabbering that I was indeed straight and was greatly affected by the sight of Jaewoong's abs. Heck, she might even reveal my more mortifying secrets – that I had forgotten to wear underwear to school once in kindergarten, or worse, that Akira and I, in our six years together, never hit a homerun in bed. I feared it was only a matter of time.
"Married? Like to a guy?" Jaewoong asked. He then turned around to look at me again. "Is that why you were crying at the rooftop?"
"Huh?"
"Because your ex-girlfriend is getting married?"
"Ah... yeah..." I said, faking a sad smile.
"I'm sorry to hear about that, Sunmi-ssi," Jaewoong said.
"Thanks." I handed him a mug of coffee and placed packets of sugar and creamer next to it. "You're not anal about your coffee like your brother, are you?"
Jaewoong chuckled. "No."
"Okay, good, coz we only have creamer and sugar and none of those other crap he puts in his coffee," I said, taking a seat.
We became silent while Jaewoong helped himself with some pancakes and bacon. Wonhee, with her face resting on the open palm of her propped-up arm, focused her admiring attention on Jaewoong's every move, while I concentrated on finishing my food. After swallowing a few bites, Jaewoong turned to Wonhee, and she quickly diverted her gaze to the one egg left on the table.
"So, are you gay, too?" Jaewoong asked.
"What???" Wonhee asked, a bit surprised, and then laughed, playfully slapping Jaewoong's arm as if they had known each other for a while now. That or she was flirting. "Bruised Lee, you're funny. But nope, I'm not gay. I'm very straight. In fact, I think you look real sexy in Sunmi's Care Bear pajamas."
If you've just known Wonhee recently, you would not believe she never had a romantic relationship before. She is beautiful and pretty aggressive when it comes to approaching guys, unlike me. But even with her special knack of open-and-shut flirting, she never had a boyfriend before, not even those weekenders or one-night-standers. Maybe she was too aggressive for her own good. Maybe she just scared off guys like how she was starting to scare off Jaewoong right now.
Jaewoong shifted in his seat, simultaneously blushing – I wasn't too sure if the display of flush and discomfort was a result of Wonhee's comment about his sexiness or from the sudden realization that he was wearing Care Bear pajamas.
"Uh, by the way, Wonhee-ssi, my name is not Bruce Lee," Jaewoong clarified.
"I know. That's why I called you Bruised, not Bruce."
"But that's not my name either."
"I know. But you look like a Bruised Lee to me right now," Wonhee said with a conclusive tone.
Jaewoong cocked both eyebrows up and slowly dropped his gaze back to his food. I was afraid he would think Wonhee was slightly loose in the head.
"It's okay, Jaewoong-ssi. Wonhee loves to give people nicknames," I said, in my attempt to redeem Wonhee.
"Really?" he asked, turning to Wonhee with an expression of inquisitive interest. "What's Sunmi's nickname?" What the heck? Why my nickname?
Wonhee's face lit up with mischief. "It's Peaches... for obvious reasons."
Jaewoong laughed, almost choking on the coffee he just drank. "Peaches? Seriously?"
"It's strange because Sunmi loves the fruit but not the nickname I gave her, which is the name of the fruit..."
I pursed my lips and narrowed my eyes at Wonhee. "It's because it sounds like a drag queen's name!" I remarked with annoyance.
"Or a porn star," Jaewoong added. "Hahaha... It doesn't suit you at all, Sunmi-ssi. I can't see you as a porn star."
"She hates it like vampire hates the sunlight," Wonhee added, smirking. "That's why back in Japan, our friends loved to call her that when they wanted to spite her."
"Geez, Wonhee, thanks for giving him the 411," I said with sarcasm.
Jaewoong joined in on the smirk-a-thon. "Thanks, indeed, Wonhee-ssi. That may come in handy someday."
For a split second, I saw myself in the future erupting into a full-on temper tantrum, all because of an unwanted nickname.
After Jaewoong devoured all the rest of our breakfast, we cleaned up the table and Jaewoong walked to the living room to make a phone call.
"You talk too much, you know that?" I scolded Wonhee while washing the plates and silverware in the sink.
Wonhee let out an uneasy chuckle. "Sunmi-ah... sorry. I had to talk. I was too nervous. His presence made me nervous, and you know I just can't stop talking when I'm nervous."
"Nervous my ass. You were flirting with him." I smiled, rolling my eyes.
"Oh, best friend, you know me too well." She dropped more dishes into the water-filled basin in front of me and sauntered back to the table to clean it.
Just as I rinsed the last of the plates, Jaewoong re-entered the kitchen.
"So, who plays the guitar?" he asked, handing back Wonhee's cell phone. On the coffee table in the middle of the living room lay a beige Gibson Acoustic J-185 that I forgot to put away the other day.
"Wonhee," I lied.
"She's lying," Wonhee said immediately thereafter. "She is the one who plays."
"So, you play the guitar, Sunmi-ssi?" Jaewoong asked with a surprised look. "First I find out that you're a third dan, then now I find out that you play the guitar. You continually surprise me. What else is there about you that I don't know?"
Wonhee gave me a look and I could just hear her screaming inside, "Sunmi's not gay!!!" but to my relief, she restrained herself. I knew it took a lot of effort in her part, but I applaud her for controlling herself this time.
I also wanted to add, I also crashed into your car.
"What is so surprising about these facts?" I asked, wiping my hands with the towel that hung on the oven handle.
He shrugged. "Nothing."
"Sunmi plays the guitar really well. She used to be in a band back in Japan, you know." And there she was again, with her eagerness to share information.
"Really?" Jaewoong asked, raising both eyebrows in surprise. "Now I want to hear you play."
"Jaewoong-ssi, it's nothing special. It's just a stupid band we had in high school and it wasn't even a real band. It was just me and this guy, and all we sang were 80's and 90's slow rock songs."
"Still, I'm curious. I wanna hear you play. Can I hear you play?"
"No."
"Why not?"
"I charge talent fee."
"No problem. How much?"
"What do you mean how much? Your cash was all stolen last night."
"Do you accept credit?"
I chuckled, rolling my eyes.
"I'm serious! I wanna hear you play."
"Sunmi-ah, don't let the poor boy wait," Wonhee demanded.
After a few more minutes of constant persuasion, I finally caved in. "Just one!" I said before I walked over to the living room. "I warn you though, I'm rusty... I haven't played in a while," I said, even though it was just the other day when I had my last practice.
"Don't worry about mistakes," Jaewoong assured.
I picked up my guitar and sat down, randomly strumming chords to warm-up, thinking of what song to play. Then I decided to play one of my favorites – I Need You Now by Alias.
While strumming the intro chords, Wonhee took a seat on the couch across from me and Jaewoong just stood on the archway that divided the living room and the kitchen, leaning the left side of his body on a closet door, a mug of coffee in his hand.
Here I am at six o'clock in the morning
Still thinking about you
It's still hard, at six o'clock in the morning
To sleep without you
I started feeling very conscious as I felt Jaewoong's eyes fixate on me with wonderment and interest. I missed a chord as a result.
And I know that it might
Seem too late for love
All I know
I need you now
More than words can say
I need you now
I've got to find a way
I need you now
Before I lose my mind
I need you now
Oh God, I'm losing my mind seeing Jaewoong's eyes still gazing at me with what seemed like a look of admiration... or was it just a figment of my imagination? He sipped his coffee without taking his eyes off me. I tried to focus on other things in the living room – the fortune plant on the console table right next to the door... the floor lamp in the corner... the TV... the runner on the coffee table...
Here I am, I'm looking out my window
I'm dreaming about you
Can't let you go, at six o'clcok in the morning
I feel you beside me
I had to force myself to keep my eyes down, afraid to meet Jaewoong's attentive gaze, trying to control my body from heating up with self-consciousness. My left fingers accidentally pressed the frets, making the notes dull and unpleasant to the ear at times. I had performed in many clubs and bars before but never had I felt this nervous ever.
And I know that it might
Seem too late for love
For love Oh, Oh, Oh
But no matter how hard I tried, my gaze still occasionally went back to where Jaewoong was standing.
I need you now
More than words can say
I need you now
I've got to find a way
I need you now
Before I lose my mind
I need you now
More than words can say
I need you now
Oh I got to hear you say
I need you now
Before I lose my mind
I need you now
I need you now...
In the end, I was able to finish my performance without having a nervous breakdown or a heart attack in the middle of it. In conclusion, it wasn't too bad.
After successfully resisting another wave of persuasion to play another song, I ran to my bedroom upstairs where I dropped myself on the bed, covered my face with a pillow, and let out a silent scream. How I wished I could scream out loud. The way Jaewoong looked at me earlier kept flashing in my mind. His stare was so sexy... so captivating... made me so glad I'm not gay.
Ah, the joys of secretly admiring someone. The excitement you feel when you see a certain look in his eyes, the nervousness you experience when you try not to let your secret out, and the anticipation of what could happen next... all these could send you to a wild emotional euphoria. And for a few minutes, I allowed myself to bask in it.
And because I let myself drown in that feeling of elation, I momentarily forgot that Jaewoong had asked me to accompany him back to his grandparents' estate where his family was waiting for his return. He wanted me to be there to basically tell a lie – that we did not go to whatever place we had gone to last night.
It was only when I heard the dryer buzz, which indicated that Jaewoong's clothes from last night were already dry, and Jaewoong knocking on my door that I remembered I had to get ready and change.
"So, who do you think about at six o'clock in the morning?" Jaewoong asked after we left the house in a taxi.
"Huh?" I asked, turning my head to the left to look at him. He was looking at me with those smiling, almost disappearing eyes of his.
"Your song... you said you're still thinking about that person at six o'clock in the morning." He was teasing me, I knew.
"It's just a song. I didn't write the lyrics. If you're not in a hurry, we can email and ask Fred Curci himself."
Jaewoong chuckled and looked at the road, resting his head on the headrest. After a few moments, he slowly turned his head to look at me again. "Have you ever loved a guy, Sunmi-ssi?" he asked, looking at me with interest, making me stop breathing for a moment.
"No," I replied without looking him in the eye. God forbid he would see I was lying.
From the corner of my eye, I could see a simper creeping across his face. I turned my head more to my right, so I wouldn't be able to see the expression on his face. I was now watching the side of the street blur past me. From the speakers behind me, I heard a Lee Seungchul ballade hit the airwaves, soft, almost inaudible. I wondered why the taxi driver even bothered turning on his radio.
"I could've sworn you were thinking about a guy when you sang that song."
"Well... you've sworn wrong," I said, softly. He was right though. I was thinking about a guy. But not according to the literal meaning of the song because in reality, I would still be snoring and drooling at six o'clock in the morning, too deep in my sleep to be thinking about someone.
I could feel him look at me through the back of my head, as weird as that may sound.
I could have told him right then and there that I wasn't gay, but something inside me told me it wasn't the right time yet. If I'd only known where my lie would get me into, wherever heartache avenue it would lead me to later, I would have just told him straight out that I wasn't gay. I should have not listened to that tiny voice. I guess it was one of those times that I shouldn't have followed my instincts.
"It must have hurt," Jaewoong finally said, filling in the silence that had followed his unexpected question.
How did he know that I was hurting over a guy? Was he finally able to see past my fake façade? Crap.
I looked at him, ready to deny his assumptions, but to my surprise, he wasn't looking at my face. He was looking down at my left hand and the next thing I knew, he turned it palm-side up and lightly traced his index finger on the tips of mine, one by one, feeling whatever callous that thickened over the years of guitar-playing. His touch at that pinpoint of time sent an unavoidable and uncontrollable rush of emotional current throughout my body. I felt my hand twitch, but I could not for some reason withdraw it from the soft, brief touch of his fingers.
"I admire the fingers of guitar players, you know. I took guitar lessons when I was little, but I was a wimp. I stopped because my fingers hurt from pressing the strings." Sighing, he withdrew his hand and then folded his arms across his chest, leaning his head on the window.
He's talking about my fingers, not my heart. My cover is still safe.
"That's why I learned the piano instead."
I crossed my arms in front of me as well, trying to brace myself from feeling the after-effects of his touch. "Oh, so you play the piano?"
He nodded, casting a sideways glance at me, and smiled. "A little."
"You're gonna play for me, too?"
"Maybe." He grinned, avoiding my eyes.
"Hey, that's unfair! I played for you."
"I charge talent fee," he said, copying my line. Gosh. No originality.
"No problem. How much?"
"You can't afford. I'm expensive."
I scoffed and rolled my eyes, making him chuckle.
"Sunmi-ssi, do your hands sweat?" he asked, switching to another topic.
He must have felt the dampness in my hand earlier.
I nodded. "Sometimes," I said. Especially when I'm nervous and sitting right next to a handsome guy like you, I wanted to add.
"They say that people whose hands get sweaty are the jealous type." He paused. "Are you the jealous type?"
"Maybe... sometimes," I replied. Where was this conversation leading to? I expected him to ask more question, but he didn't, so I decided maybe it was my turn to voice out queries.
"Jaewoong-ssi... can I ask you something?"
"Sure." He faced me and lay the side of his face on the headrest.
"Did you know those guys? Last night? The ones who..."
"Can you ask me something else?" he interrupted before I could finish my sentence.
"Who was that girl? Why couldn't you..."
"Ask me other things... things not related to what happened last night."
I didn't know whether to get annoyed for continually being interrupted or to empathize with his mysterious secrecy. I chose the earlier because, truth be told, there were a lot of things about me that I could not reveal to anyone just yet. Only Wonhee was aware, and even though her mouth can spit out twenty-one thousand words per minute, I knew she would never expose any of my shadowed secrets.
So I acted irritated, turning away from him.
"Sorry... I just don't want to talk about last night." There was something about his voice, so sad and soft, somewhat pleading, that I could not help but let go of my curiosity.
"Can you tell me more about your band instead?"
"Psh. There's really nothing to tell... Like I said, it's something this guy and I formed in high school. We had a few gigs in college, but that was it. It was just our way of escaping the life we had..."
"And what kind of life was that?"
I avoided his inquisitive eyes. "You know... just the normal boring life," I lied.
"I know what you mean. Music is one of my escapes, too." He looked at me. "What was the name of your band?"
"Akimomo," I replied.
He paused for a second as if to think about the word. "What does that mean?"
"Nothing, really. My bandmate just thought it was a cute name, so we named our band that." Actually, it was a combination of Akira's name and the nickname he gave me – Momo, meaning peach in Japanese. I loved that nickname, which was ironic because I hated the English one. Maybe because Akira gave that name to me, and at that time I was head over heels in love with him, so whatever he called me, I loved. For all I know, he could have called me Poopoo, and I would still have loved it and thought it's cute.
"You have a nice voice," Jaewoong commented. "It's soothing."
"Thanks, but I was just backup vocals. Akira was the lead singer."
"Akira?"
"My b- bandmate..."
"Ah..."
The taxi suddenly jolted to a stop, sending both Jaewoong and me forward.
"Sorry!" the taxi driver apologized. "Some skateboard kid just appeared out of nowhere."
"It's fine," Jaewoong said. "Are you okay?" he asked me, placing a hand on the small of my back.
I nodded.
"Maybe we should put on our seatbelts, huh?" I said, strapping the belt over me. Jaewoong did the same.
"So, where were we? Ah... the band... your band."
I hoped to any god he would not ask anything anymore about Akira, and thank goodness he didn't.
"Just curious, why did you come to Korea?"
"Uhm..." For a moment I thought about whether or not to tell him the verity of my coming to this country, and after deciding that the truth of this matter would not harm me or expose me in any way, I told him about Peachland.
"My parents abandoned me when I was a baby," I began, inhaling deeply. I'd always hated having to introduce that part in my life story because I didn't want it to be a reason for pity, but it was the reality of my being, and I just had to deal with it and treat it like it was nothing. Exhaling air out, I continued, "My grandmother told me this story about how I came to Earth in a giant peach, saying that my real parents lived in Peachland. Growing up, I thought Peachland really existed, but eventually I found out it doesn't. My cousin told me that my parents live in Korea... I think Peachland is in Korea, that's why I came. Although initially I thought Peachland was a country, right now, to me, it is more like a symbol rather than an actual place; it can be the place where my family lives... or my family itself... or something, anything, that will make me whole. All my life, no matter how many people surrounded me and how much they loved me, I always felt incomplete inside, and I believed that when I find Peachland, my life... my very existence... would be complete. I will finally become whole."
I took a deep breath again and smiled shyly at him, who was listening with undivided attention, the side of his face still rested on the seat cushion. "So, in short, if you got confused with all that nonsense, I came to Korea to find my parents," I added.
For a moment, he just gazed at me with what seemed like a pondering melancholy, not letting his eyes off even when the taxi hit a nasty pothole.
"I'm sorry, Sunmi-ssi... about you being abandoned... and feeling empty..."
"It's okay. It isn't really a big deal. It's not like it made me psycho or anything..." I looked down at my hands, which I'd been unconsciously wiggling about while delivering my soliloquy.
When I raised my head up again, Jaewoong was still looking at me. I wasn't sure if I looked sad (I wasn't trying to) because he tried to console me by saying, "For whatever it's worth, just know that you're not the only one having family problems. Some people out there may have more complicated problems than you do."
He had no idea how complicated my life really was.
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When we set foot on the marble floors of the Lee mansion, the sound of Michael Bolton's How Am I Supposed to Live Without You on piano greeted us as the music ricocheted in the high ceilings of the vast living room. I saw Hyunki behind a white grand, immersed in his playing, and Yisung sitting on a sofa, cradling a bundle in his arms – which was a baby no more than six months old, sucking water out of a bottle like there's no tomorrow.
They looked up when the heavy panel double doors shut with a heavy thump that clashed with the soft notes of Hyunki's song.
"Jaewoong-hyung!" Hyunki called, stopping his piano playing.
"Where the hell have you been?" Yisung opted for a stern salutation, which made me recoil behind Jaewoong. A white bib with blue trimming hung on Yisung's shoulder, near the baby's head. "Do you know how worried everybody was?" He stood up and walked over to us; Hyunki followed. "You didn't call. You didn't pick up your phone. Harabuchi is about to call the---" He stopped in his tracks as soon as he got a better view of Jaewoong's physical state. "What the hell happened to your face?" he asked, his eyebrows narrowing with concern.
Jaewoong looked away and ready to walk out of the foyer, out of Yisung's presence.
"Jaewoong-ah! Don't tell me you went there again..."
"Hyung!" Jungho called as he trundles down one of the two semi circular stairwell on our right. "Hyung, what happened to you?" Then he looked at me with a confused look. "Sunmi-ssi, why are you here?"
"Jaewoong-ah! I asked you something!" Yisung yelled, scaring the baby in his arms, who then let out a cry of surprise. Yisung started dancing the baby around to calm it, and then he looked at me. "I'm sorry, Sunmi-ssi. I didn't even get to greet you properly. It's just that we were so worried about Jaewoong last night."
Everybody couldn't stop staring at Jaewoong. He glanced at me as if to signal me to deliver the lines we had carefully practiced back in Wonhee's house and in the taxi.
"Did you go there again?" Yisung paraphrased his question in a less strict way once the baby in his arms quieted down.
"I didn't, okay? Ask Sunmi. She's my witness."
Yisung, Hyunki, and Jungho turned to look at me.
"I... uh... he spent the night with me."
"WHAT???" the three of them exclaimed in unison.
"But I thought you're gay," Hyunki added, looking galactically confused.
"Oh... It's not like that... We didn't spend the night together like spend it together... together." I was stammering, which was never part of our rehearsal earlier. It was really different when you're faced with the real deal. "What I meant was that he spent the night at my house... because he passed out and I didn't know where to take him."
"Huh? Why?"
"I saw Jaewoong outside a bar when I went there with some friends. Some guys were ganging up on him..." The three of them glanced at the cut on my lip.
"Sunmi saved me, but the guys still managed to run off with my stuff. I lost my phone, that's why I wasn't able to let you guys know where I was, plus the fact that I already passed out."
Hyunki looked bewildered. "Hyung, you mean to say, Sunmi can fight better than you?"
Jaewoong nodded. Hyunki looked at me with admiration.
Before I could add something, I heard a loud grunt behind us. I turned around along with everyone and saw an old man with a receding hairline and aviator spectacles standing near the foot of the stairs with his arms folded across his chest. I reckoned it was their grandfather.
"Jaewoong-ah..." The old man's voice was deep and domineering, and the whole house became eerily quiet except for the sucking noises the baby in Yisung's arms was making. He didn't say anything else, just turned around and disappeared into a room past the arch where the stairwells met.
Jaewoong turned to me. "Sunmi-ssi, can you wait for a while in the living room? I think we're having a little family meeting."
Making my way to the white leather couches in the middle of the living room, I glanced back at where the four of them disappeared to. I wondered if Jaewoong would get into a lot of trouble. First the car wreck, now this. Why did I have to be involved in every trouble Jaewoong got into?
I hoped he wouldn't get severely punished. I hoped I was more convincing than I thought I sounded when I conveyed Jaewoong's excuse about his whereabouts last night.
I looked around the house, my eyes travelled from the floor to ceiling white window drapes and the white fresh roses in the middle of the glass coffee table, and I wondered how on earth they were able to maintain this room to look pristine as it is. I slid a finger on the table. Not a particle of dust in sight.
I remembered my grandparents' house in Japan and thought of how it contrasted this house in so many ways.
My gaze was caught by a painting above the fireplace mantel. It was the only non-white piece in the living room, and it looked so familiar that I had to get up to peer at it closer. It was a picture of women gathered in a place, washing clothes or something. Where had I seen this picture before?
Then I remembered. It was the picture my grandfather stared at for days. It was the same picture that made him go ballistic and irritable beyond reason for weeks.
"Do you like the painting?" somebody asked behind me. I turned around and saw a girl a couple years or so younger than me. Brushing her soft waves off her shoulder, she walked toward me. She's very pretty, and up close, I could see how perfect her skin was – smooth and fine. "It's a very simple picture, isn't it?" she said, tilting her head up to look at the painting.
"So, your family was the anonymous bidder?" I asked. I always wondered who got to purchase this painting.
"Yeah. I personally thought it was stupid of Harabuchi to spend that much money on a painting, but..." She shrugged. "It's his money, of course."
"It's ridiculously expensive..." If I could remember right, it was more than four billion won.
"I'm Jihyun, by the way." She extended her right arm in front of me.
I shook it. "I'm Sunmi. Nice to meet you."
"So, Jaewoong-oppa was with you last night?"
"Uh... yeah..."
She turned to walk toward an adjacent room, which I presumed as the formal dining room based on the very long table that had eighteen chairs around it. "Would you like something to drink?"
"Uh..."
"Come on. Let's go to the kitchen," she said, cocking her head twice to the direction she was going. I followed her past the dining room and into a large kitchen area. She opened one of the two Sub-Zeros in the kitchen and asked, "What would you like to drink?"
"Water is fine."
She then handed me a Fine bottled water and walked toward the breakfast area where a marble-top round table stood in the middle. She sat and pushed a crystal container of chocolates my way. "Have some. They're Pierre Marcolini."
"Oh... Thanks."
"Have you had Marcolinis before?"
"Uh... I've tasted it before... Uhm... my... uh... friend gave me some."
"Ahh..." She seemed to study me for a moment as I shoved a piece of chocolate in my mouth. "How long have you known Jaewoong-oppa?"
"A few weeks."
"Ahh... so you don't really know much about him yet, do you?"
I gave a closed-lip smile as I struggled to push a piece of caramel off the roof of my mouth with my tongue.
"You seem different from the girls I've seen him with." She gave my t-shirt and jeans, which looked inferior to her simple but most likely branded royal blue capsleeve dress, a once-over. "Usually, Jaewoong-oppa hangs out with sleazy girls... Usually I don't meddle in his affairs, but you seem different from the bunch that I've seen, and I like you for that." She took a deep breath. "That's why I'm warning you to stay away from him."
"Huh?"
"Don't be fooled by his angelic smile and cheerful eyes because he's a heartbreaker." She leaned on the table and gave me this look, like she was really serious about her cautionary advice. "He's only had two real girlfriends before and the rest of the girls after that all went home heartbroken. I'm warning you – do not become a statistics."
"Uh... Jaewoong and I... we're not..."
"I know. They all start that way. So he told you that he can't be in a serious relationship because he's about to be engaged, right? He gives women this idea that he's sad about this potential match-made marriage. It's true, but that only makes women go after him even more, they confuse love with pity. And the notion of him being off limits even makes him more attractive to them for some reason, a reason I could never understand." She rolled her eyes to the ceiling, which was coffered with square panels, I just noticed. "And when he's tired with those women, he always has an excuse – 'I told you I can't be with you... my parents already promised me to someone.' It's always his ticket out."
"You got it all wrong... Jaewoong and I are just friends..."
"I know... they all start out that way... Let me tell you something about my cousins... Yisung-oppa and Jaewoong-oppa are the friends-with-benefits kind of type. Obviously, Jaewoong-oppa has more control of himself because he doesn't have two kids as a result..."
"Wait, Yisung has two kids already?"
"Uh-huh... Different moms. One is six years old and lives with the mother. Yisung-oppa had him in high school, and the other one is that baby he was holding earlier. The baby lives with his family... Harabuchi paid the mother to cut connections with Yisung and the baby, and that bitch gladly accepted the money."
"Oh."
"Youngwoo-oppa also has a lot of girls but never had a serious relationship before because he doesn't know how to keep the ones he really likes. He thinks that money can do everything for him including buy love. Hyunki-oppa is not dating anybody serious right now because he's still hung-up on his ex-girlfriend. Did you hear him play How Am I Supposed to Live Without You earlier? He plays that stupid song everyday for the past six months." She shook her head and pressed her lips tight. "All girls they're surrounded with right now are categorized as "just friends". Some they have benefits with, some they don't."
"How about Jungho?"
Jihyun sighed and rolled her eyes. "My brother is just your average frustrated chump who thinks he's all that but actually doesn't know how to play the game."
"Oh... So, are they really that popular here in Korea?" I asked.
"Who? My cousins?"
"Uh-huh."
"Who told you that? My brother?" Jihyun laughed. "Let me tell you something about my brother... Aside from being an AFC, he's also hopelessly delusional. He thinks they're popular, but the only people who know them are the employees of our companies, their former schoolmates, and their friends."
"I thought they're like celebrities. Like the F4 in Boys Over Flowers."
"Pfft..." Jihyun laughed harder, even clutching her stomach. "They wish! Celebrity my as.s."
"But Jungho said they've been featured in magazines..."
"Yeah... like Time magazine and Asiaweek... with the whole family. And the only reason we were featured there was Harabuchi and his fortune, not their good looks." She made air quotes as she mentioned "good looks".
At that moment, as if sensing we were talking about him, Jungho emerged in the kitchen.
"Sunmi-ssi, have you been flirting with my sister?" Jungho asked, pulling a chair next to me.
Jihyun looked up at him and raised an eyebrow.
"Sunmi is gay," Jungho explained and Jihyun's expression changed.
"Wait, you mean to tell me that I gave you the warning about my cousins for nothing?"
I chuckled uncomfortably, chewing a mouthful of truffle chocolate. It wasn't for nothing, Jihyun-ssi, I thought. Thanks for warning me about Jaewoong.
I had a feeling before that there was something suspicious about his loveable and kind demeanor, but I chose to ignore that intuition. Was he trying to be sweet to me because he actually thought I would switch from being "gay" to straight? Was I a challenge to him? An experiment?
Lee Jaewoong, you think you're so suave and smart?
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I bowed 90 degrees to President Lee before walking toward the seat that Jaewoong pulled for me in the really long cherry table in the dining room. The family had invited me to stay for lunch, maybe as a gesture of their gratitude for the valiant act I did to save Jaewoong last night.
"Thank you for joining us today, Bae Sunmi-ssi," President Lee said, motioning for me to sit down. The table was full of delicious-looking Korean delicacies and numerous side dishes. "We should start eating as I do not have much time to spare for this lunch."
We all started serving ourselves with soup that tasted so delectable. I could feel my nose starting to burn from the wave of nostalgia that had suddenly came over me. The soup and the atmosphere of this family-filled table reminded me so much of home. Fortunately, everybody was too busy to notice me, and I was able to control my eyes, not allowing them to well with homesick tears.
The table was occupied with the boys (except for Youngwoo who apparently left for Japan this morning to accompany his parents and grandmother for an important business meeting), Jihyun, Mr. Joo, three men I'd never seen before, me, and of course, the grandfather. Yisung's baby was also there, in a baby carrier placed on the seat next to Yisung.
"Bae Sunmi-ssi," the old man said, cocking his head slightly to the side to look at me past Jaewoong. "The reason why I asked you to stay for lunch is that I would like to personally tell you that you have been promoted."
I was going to say, "I am?" but my mouth was full of bibimbap that I was in the process of chewing. So, I just placed a hand on my chest, and expressed my surprise, delight, and gratitude with a wide-eyed look.
"I had decided to make you Jaewoong's personal assistant," President Lee continued.
I almost choked on the mouthful of rice that I untimely swallowed in my surprise after hearing what President Lee had just said. "An a- assist-ant?" I stammered. I could not be Jaewoong's friggin' assistant! If he finds out I'm not gay, am I going to be an assistant with benefits? And I'm not talking about health insurance or 401K.
My eyes had probably gone wildly big, conveying terror, because old President Lee added, "It's not a scary job, Sunmi-ssi. All you have to do is organize his office and schedules, maybe take care of some paperworks and appointments, and more often than not accompany him during business trips."
I caught a glimpse of an unmistakable satisfied grin on Jaewoong's face, and I wondered, Is this his freakin' idea? If I had known I would become an employee with benefit, I would never have saved his ass last night. Ugh! Bae Sunmi, you're so tremendously stupid! But still, I was glad to know Jaewoong did not get reprimanded.
"Wait, Harabuchi, that's unfair! How come Jaewoong-hyung gets a female assistant and not us?" Jungho whined.
"Aigoo... Aigoo..." President Lee glared at Jungho. President Lee turned to me again. "Hahaha... Bae-ssi, normally I don't allow female assistants to be with my grandsons for valid reasons. I don't know if you're aware that my grandsons are some of the most sought-after bachelors in town, and many girls just throw themselves at them, you know what I mean." He cleared his throat. "I cannot afford having more illegitimate children running in this house." He cast a fleeting glance at Yisung, who seemed to shrink in his chair at the mention of 'illegitimate children.' "But since I had been informed that you prefer to date women, I don't think you will cause any trouble."
And just like that, I had another near-choking spell, this time with a piece of cucumber kimchi. I felt my whole body turn red of embarrassment. This whole lying about me being gay had gone way over the top. Never in my wildest dreams had I imagined having lunch with a company president and discuss my supposed sexual orientation. Really, who else has gone through that? Only me, I think.
At that moment, Yisung's baby, whose name I found out was Youngbae, let out a sharp, sudden cry.
"Aisssshhhh!" Yisung grizzled. "This kid has been driving me out of my wits since last night." He took the baby out of his carrier. "Harabuchi, why can't the nanny work on weekends?"
"Aigoo! Aigoo!" President Lee reached and smacked the back of Yisung's head. Too bad he was sitting close to his grandfather. "When do you think you want to start taking responsibilities as a father?"
"Oppa, you shouldn't have slept through sex ed class," Jihyun said with a half-smirk, and everybody on the table broke out in laughter except for Yisung and Grandpa Lee, who ignored that comment and looked back at me.
"I will double your salary," President Lee added.
It will be nice to have extra money... I can help Wonhee buy a new refrigerator... and I can timely pay off the debt I owe Jaewoong for the car repair...
I looked at Jaewoong, who was eyeing me with anticipation. He didn't look as harmful as Jihyun portrayed him to be. He didn't look like he would do anything horrid to me... Or would he?
Then I remembered something... I could just kick his as.s if he'd attempt to harass me. I know self-defense; what was I worried about?
"Okay, I'll take it," I said with certainty and unnoted naivety.
Accepting that offer seemed innocuous at that time. Never had I imagined that that very action would affect my whole future and would rewrite some things I had in the book about my past. Life is indeed full of surprises.