Tae Hee was queuing as she scanned the various sandwiches menu written on the board that was hanging on the wall behind the counter. She didn't know what to eat as this was her first time buying at a sandwich shop. The shop was located a few metres away from Lee's Corporation. They have different types of breads as well as wraps and various choices of fillings and sauces. She thought she want to call Seonghwa for lunch but she just remembered he went to Japan for a business matter.
"Hi," Tae Hee smiled at the worker behind the counter as her turned to order came. "What do you suggest in the menu?" she asked.
The worker was about to suggest something when someone interrupted him. "They have a very good Teriyaki chicken here. You can choose wheatmeal bread if you're on diet,". Tae Hee turned around to look at the person who was talking to her. It was a guy with a blonde hair and small almond shape eyes. The guy was smiling at her. Tae Hee felt awkward at his sudden interruption.
"I'll pay for the sandwich if you end up not liking it."
There was a minute of silence before the worker decided to ask again. "Would you like to have Teriyaki sandwich, miss?"
Tae Hee shifted her attention back towards the worker. "Uh, yeah. I think I'll have it with a cup of Americano please." She paid for her meal and took a seat near a window. Most of the customers in the shop came with their friends or had a takeaway.
It's been almost two weeks since Tae Hee started working as a head of a marketing department in the company. She worked in a marketing team before but she never expects to become the head of a department. It was Mina's original position after her father decided to let her work in the company. According to Seonghwa, she travelled a lot before after she finished her study in New York.
Tae Hee propped her elbows on the table and leaned her cheek against the back of her hand as she stared out at the window.
"Do you mind if I sit here?" The same man that suggested her the food suddenly came beside her.
Tae Hee looked up at him and then to the few empty tables in the café. She didn't understand why this guy wanted to sit with her.
"It's boring to eat alone, don't you think?" He took a seat opposite of her, not caring to wait for her respond. Tae Hee gaped at his daring action. "I'm Jimin, Jungkook's best friend."
"How do you-"
"I saw you with Jungkook last time – if you're wondering how I knew you. I knew you're his fiancé but I didn't know your name. He didn't tell me that part." Jimin grinned at her.
"Oh." She hesitated a bit. Tae Hee still found it hard to introduce herself as Mina – sometimes she almost introduces her real name. "I'm Mina." At that moment, hers and Jimin's pager buzzed at the same time.
"I'll take it for you." Jimin stood up and went to the pick-up counter. After a minute, he came back with a tray in his hands.
"Thanks," Tae Hee muttered. She unwrapped the wrapper and took a small bite of the sandwich. Her eyes grew wider as the Teriyaki sauce melted into her mouth.
"I told you it's delicious," Jimin chuckled when he saw her reaction. He unwrapped his sandwich and took a bite of it.
"Are you a regular here?" Tae Hee asked. "How do you know this sandwich tastes so good?" She took another bite of it.
"Oh, it's not me. Jungkook is the one who suggested me this place before and he specifically told me about this Teriyaki sandwich."
"Oh." So it's Jungkook's favourite.
"Do you have any boyfriend or anyone you like?" Jimin's sudden question caused her to almost choke on her Americano. "Sorry, I'm just asking."
"No," she answered shortly.
Jimin wanted to ask about Seonghwa but she didn't know he was there when that incident happened so he swept the thought under the rug.
"Park Jimin, I told you to wait for me and you-" A guy with a deep voice yelled at Jimin but he stopped when he saw Tae Hee. "Seriously, Jimin?" The guy rolled his eyes at Jimin. He thought Jimin was flirting with someone.
Tae Hee looked back and forth from Jimin to the deep voice guy. The guy's hair is starlight in colour and it looked like it sparkled when the sun shone on it, just like his perfect handsome face. Tae Hee wouldn't be surprise if someone tells her that this guy come out straight from a manhwa because he's gorgeous.
"Oh, sorry, I almost forgot about my friend here." Jimin grinned at Tae Hee. He lied actually. Jimin was waiting for Taehyung to pay for his shoes when he saw Tae Hee. He followed her without hesitation and that's how he ended lining up behind her in a sandwich shop. "He's Taehyung, Jungkook's best friend as well. Tae this is Mina, Jungkook's fiancé."
"Oh, sorry I didn't recognise you." Taehyung scratched his nape.
"That's fine," Tae Hee smiled at him.
Taehyung took a seat besides Jimin and snatched his sandwich before he took a big bite of it. "Hey! Buy yourself a sandwich, mate!" Jimin grumbled and snatched back his sandwich.
"You left me suddenly and it took me hours to find you," Taehyung retorted.
"We went to that shop less than an hour ago." Jimin rolled his eyes.
Tae Hee watched both of them bickering and she let out a small laugh. She imagined it must be fun hanging out with them and they looked close. Probably they'd been friends since they were kids.
"We'd been friends since we were kids," Jimin said as if he can read what she's thinking. "We went to the same kindergarten and until university. I can't believe I'm still alive here after all those stupid things these guys had done."
"Jungkook was the one who broke Seokjin's mom expensive vase that she bought from Italy. I'm still surprise she didn't realise it's gone," Taehyung added. "If she did, all of us will not be here now. Maybe six feet under the ground."
"Jungkook is the most playful one when we were young. He broke one of his legs while we're skiing because he wanted to do that stupid stunt." Jimin shook his head when he remembered that horrible incident. They went on a holiday in France and they were forced to extend it for another 3 days because Jungkook need to stay in a hospital to get his treatment.
"He doesn't look like one," Tae Hee said.
"Well, he's indeed more mature now but he gave us a lot of headaches before," Jimin said. "The same goes to this guy here," he giggled and pointed at Taehyung. The latter frowned and mouthed 'whatever'. Taehyung took Jimin's Coke which he thought was an iced lemon tea and took a sip of it. He cringed as the carbonated drink got into his system.
"Oh." Jimin put up a finger as he remembered something. "We're hosting a party this weekend. Come and join us. You can bring your friends over too."
"Party?" Tae Hee imagined the rich people's party that she saw in a drama that Jihyo loves to watch. They are wearing expensive clothes, eat and drink expensive foods and liquors. There's an orchestra music plays in the background as some of the people dance with their partner to the rhythm.
The only party that she'd ever been was during her final year in university. Jihyo dragged her there and she said it's their senior year so they should enjoy before the final exam come. It was not an expensive party where people drink expensive liquors.
They drank cheap beer and ate greasy foods instead. She only came there for free foods as she can't hold her alcohol, unlike Jihyo who can drink a whole carton of beers and still can walk properly. Tae Hee didn't know how her friend manage to do it. She can't drink more than two cans of beer or else she will be walking like a zombie in Train of Busan – probably she will bite anyone that come into her sight.
"Yeah. Everyone will be there. You'll meet another 4 friends of us. I'm sure they will like you when they see you," Jimin chirped.
Tae Hee felt bad if she rejects his invitation when he looked like a cute little puppy waiting for its owner to pat bring it for a walk at the park. "Yeah, sure," she replied hesitantly. "Is there any dress code?"
"This must be your first or second party." Taehyung looked at her in disbelief.
"I rarely go to a party," Tae Hee mumbled and her cheeks flushed.
"Hey, that's okay. He can be straightforward sometimes but he doesn't mean it." Jimin pinched Taehyung arm, making his friend yelped in pain. "There's no dress code. You can wear something that is comfortable for you. The party is just for fun."
"Oh..." she trailed. "Okay. I'll come."
"Great! Make sure to come, okay! It's going to be fun, I promise." Jimin beamed at her.
~
Tae Hee surrendered and sat on one of the benches in the shopping mall. Jihyo had dragged her from one shop to another for almost 3 hours. She looked up at her friend who stood there with her arms crossed against her chest.
"Yoon Tae Hee, we're not done yet!" Jihyo scolded.
"Can we rest for a while? My legs already gave in." Tae Hee pouted as she pointed at her sore legs.
"We have more shops to look at and we're running out of time!"
The reason Jihyo dragged her to the mall was because she claimed Tae Hee didn't have a suitable dress for Jimin's party. She said all of them looked too formal and not sexy. The party is going to be held tonight and they only have a few more hours to get ready.
"I can't believe you didn't have a dress," Jihyo grumbled. She went to her apartment this morning and found out her wardrobe had no sexy dress – only plain and formal dresses were hanging there. "I'm glad I came this morning or else you will look like a boring bitch at the party and I, Park Jihyo-" She jabbed her finger to her chest, "will not allow you be that boring person."
"I still have that sexy dress I bought for the senior party. We don't have to waste the money and buy a new one," Tae Hee protested.
"No!" Jihyo put her hands on her waist. "Not that dress! It's old and to be honest, it's ugly. I'm letting you wear that at that time because we don't have much time to buy a new one." She grabbed Tae Hee's hand. "Let's go and get you a sexy dress."
They went to a boutique that sells only designer dresses. Tae Hee's eyes widened as she looked at the price tag. "Jihyo, the dresses here are too expensive!" she whispered to her friend so that the sales assistant couldn't hear them.
"Yoon Tae Hee." Jihyo turned to face Tae Hee. "Have you forget your status now? You're Lee Mina and Lee Mina has an unlimited credit card with her so use it."
Tae Hee's jaw dropped in disbelief. "Seriously, Jihyo? That's not even my card!" she whispered a bit louder this time.
"Didn't Seonghwa said to just use it? A designer dress won't do any damage to their finance. You barely buy clothes anyway so it's going to be fine." Jihyo browsed from one dress to another. She didn't bother to look at the price tags as she grabbed few of the dresses and handed it to the sales assistant who gladly took them. "I think you can try these first."
Tae Hee gaped at the amount of dresses that the sales assistant was holding for her. She assumed there's at least 5 of them. She took one of the dresses from the assistant's hand. It was a black strapless mini dress with a sweetheart neckline that goes a bit lower to the middle.
"You want me to wear this?" she uttered in disbelief. "This dress barely covers my skin!"
"You are not telling me you prefer to wear a grandma style dress, right?" Jihyo rolled her eyes at Tae Hee.
"That's better than this. I'm not going to impress anyone at the party anyway."
Jihyo's jaw dropped and she put her hands on Tae Hee's shoulder. "Of course you are! Jungkook is going to be there and you're going to impress him. He's your fiancé!"
"Yeah, fiancé." Tae Hee made a quote sign in the air with her fingers. She took a seat on one of the velvet sofa near her. "I'm not going to see him anymore when his real fiancé wakes up so why bother impressing him?" she muttered. There's a bit sadness laced in her tone.
"What's with this gloomy expression?" Jihyo squinted her eyes as she plopped besides Tae Hee. "Are you-" She brought her palms to cover her mouth. "Are you already falling in love with him?" Jihyo gasped.
"What?" Tae Hee's brows furrowed at Jihyo's question.
"You love Jungkook!" sang Jihyo. "Oh My God, I thought I'm going to die before I see you falling in love with someone." She clasped her hands together in front of her chest. She instantly stood up causing Tae Hee to jump a bit, surprised at her sudden action. "Alright, don't worry my friend! I'm going to turn you into the most beautiful woman in the party so he won't eye another woman besides you."
Jihyo grabbed Tae Hee's arm and ushered her to try the dresses that she chose. Tae Hee was a bit perplexed by it but she obeyed without any complains. She didn't know what gibberish Jihyo was talking about. Love? Never in her life she knows what's the meaning of love. Tae Hee never experiences it before. She didn't know how it feels like to be in love with someone. Her life only consists of work and her mother. She is too busy struggling to stay alive that she never bothers to find herself a man.
Tae Hee looked at the dresses that the sales assistant hung for her in the fitting room. The dresses were either mini dresses or cocktail dresses that probably only covers half of her skin – if it is since she hasn't try them yet. She knew her friend is not going to let her get away with this. Jihyo will make sure Tae Hee choose at least one of the dress or worse, she will choose it herself and force her to wear it. Tae Hee shuddered at the thought. She's sure Jihyo will choose that strapless mini dress. I better choose it myself.