Chapter 12: It's A Dream

“Jae Joong-shi,” I said; my voice quivered.

“Annyeong,” he smiled briefly, then turned to face the sea.

“Your band,” I said. “They’re not with you?”

“Ani… they’re having drinks at the bar. I wanted to take a quiet stroll.”

“I see.”

“So do you feel better now?”

“Huh?”

“You were screaming. People usually want to scream when they’re stressed.”

“Haha…” I laughed nervously.

“Something private?” he said.

“Not so,” I replied.

“But you’re not willing to tell me.”

“Anieyo…” I said. “I just…”

“If it’s too embarrassing, you don’t need to tell me.”

He was speaking slowly in Korean, with a smattering of English. It was actually nice of him for making the effort to ensure that I could understand what he was saying.

“Ani… it’s not a big deal,” I said.

“Really? So I’m gonna get to hear the story?”

This was Kim Jae Joong I was talking to. The Hero Jae Joong that every Jae Joong fan had ever drooled about. Here I was, having this odd conversation with him, when any self-respecting fan would’ve gotten an autograph and groped him a little by now.

“Hyung!” I heard a Jun Su call out. You can’t mistake that voice.

Jae Joong turned and waited for Jun Su to amble close enough to speak.

“We’re leaving,” he said. “Come on…” then he noticed me, “Hello Sierra-shi!”

“Hi,” I smiled.

“Ppalli…” he reminded Jae Joong, who waved him off. “Bye Sierra-shi!” he called out and waved as he walked off towards the group that was waiting at the entrance of the bar, some distance away.

“I’ll see you tonight?” Jae Joong said.

“Tonight?”

“There’s a small party at our apartment. We’d like you to come,” he said.

“We?”

“TVXQ and Eru hyung,” he said.

“Am I the only reporter invited?”

“Ne…” he said.

“Really? Why?”

“Cos we like you?” he smiled.

“Ah…” I smiled back.

“I trust it’ll be off the record?”

“Of course,” I smiled.

“Choa. Our assistant will send the address to your room. See you then,” he said, and started walking off.

I often heard of and seen Jae Joong being silly and shooting his mouth off on shows, but never once did he act like that today. Perhaps it was because he was on foreign soil. Then again, it was refreshing to see that he actually had a serious side to him.

I’d been so engrossed with talking to Jae Joong that I hadn’t even noticed that the sun had set.

“Shit…” I muttered to myself as I rush to the restaurant I was meeting Jeong Hoon for dinner.

“Right on time,” Jeong Hoon teased, as soon as I sat down.

“I got caught up…” I explained.

“By TVXQ?” he said, and obviously meant it as a joke.

“Erm… yea…” I replied, and he stared at me.

“You’re joking…” he said.

“Nope,” I said smugly as the waiter laid the napkin on my lap for me.

“How were you caught up by TVXQ?” he asked.

“I was talking to Jae Joong,” I started.

“Jae Joong!” he said, his voice went one pitch higher than the norm.

“He came to me after the interviews and asked me to join them at their private party tonight,” I elaborated as I read the menu.

“You don’t even know them,” he pointed out.

“Erm… I know them, they don’t know me,” I said.

“Your order, madam?” the waiter prompted.

“I’ll have the grilled salmon,” I informed the waiter and he nodded before leaving.

“You know their TV personalities. Not their real personalities,” Jeong Hoon said, continuing the debate.

“Is there a problem with that?”

“You’re going to attend a party at the room of a whole bunch of guys you hardly know,” he attempted to reason.

“I’m sure there are girls there… like the assistants, or even Bada.”

“And if there aren’t?” he asked. “You’re taking me with you.”

“I can’t do that,” I said.

“Wae?”

“They didn’t say I could bring a partner, and I have no way of asking.”

“I don’t think 1 person extra will make a difference,” he argued.

“No… it’s rude.”

“So you’re going to run off to a private party and chuck me at the hotel room for the rest of the night?”

“No… how can you say that? I’ll just pop by, linger, then leave.”

“Hah!” he exclaimed. “You speak as if you’re visiting your relatives or something. This is TVXQ, remember? Your loves… you’re hardly going to spend 15 minutes there and run.”

“You’re being paranoid, Kim Jeong Hoon.”

“No, I’m not,” he said.

Just then, my salmon arrived.

“I’d like to eat now. Can we continue this conversation after I’ve refueled?” I said, as I looked at him expectantly.

He sighed, looked at me, looked at his plate, then back at me, and finally, he just shut up and ate.

15 minutes of silence later, I’d finished eating. Jeong Hoon had finished eating awhile ago and was nursing a glass of wine as he sulked.

“Ya…” I said affectionately as I reached across the table to hold his free hand. “Waegeurae?”

“Waegeurae?!” he exclaimed as he stared at me. “You asked me to shut up and leave you alone, and you’re asking me this?”

“I was in a good mood, and you were nagging and nagging and nagging…” I said.

“That’s because you’re about to do something idiotic,” he said.

“What is so idiotic about going to a party?”

“You don’t know them!” he said in exasperation.

“I’ll get to know them,” I said.

“You know… this is so typical of you,” he said, wiping his mouth with his napkin and throwing it on the table. “I take the day off for you, and end up spending the entire day alone.”

“I won’t be long…”

“Sure… keep telling yourself that,” he said, then he stood up and left the table.

I was shocked speechless by Jeong Hoon’s sudden outburst. I didn’t know what to do, and I couldn’t find my voice to call him back. I can’t imagine why he’d been so unreasonable lately; first with Min Woo, and now with TVXQ.

I went back to the hotel room after dinner. Good thing Jeong Hoon had requested to leave an extra key at the counter for me when he’d checked in earlier. I got up to the room, and I wasn’t surprised to find it empty. He knew I would come to the room to shower, and made sure he wasn’t there when I came back.

I stripped off cardigan and tank top, and walked into the bathroom. I stared at the mirror for a moment. My makeup was almost melting off from the tropical heat, and my hair was a little out of place. I sighed and started removing my makeup. After I was done, I went into the shower.

It was almost 9pm when I’d finished putting on my makeup. I surveyed myself in the mirror. The blue summer dress I wore complemented my fair skin, and I had a pair of white 2-inch high wedges to complement the whole outfit. I wrote Jeong Hoon a short note, picked up my white clutch, and left the room.

By the time I got there, the party was already in full swing. As I had expected, it was a mix of men and women, unlike what Jeong Hoon had imagined. Chang Min opened the door for me, and grinned broadly as I walked in.

“Shoes,” he said, and I was almost fooled into taking off my shoes had I not first looked at his feet.

“Nice try,” I smiled.

“Haha… been trying this the whole night,” he laughed.

“So this is the most happening spot on Sentosa tonight?” I asked as he lead me into the spacious suite.

“Could be,” he shrugged.

“Everyone’s here,” I said.

“Yea…” he said.

“Over here,” Eru waved us over as we neared the group.

“Annyeong,” I greeted as I got near them.

“Sierra-shi,” Yoo Chun said. “Are you sure you’re not Korean?”

“Yoo Chun-shi… stop buttering me up,” I giggled.

“Yea…” Jun Su said. “She’s much better than most of the Korean girls we’ve met around here.”

“I heard that!” Bada said as she walked up to our little group which consisted of Eru, Jun Su, Yoo Chun and Chang Min.

Jun Su and Yoo Chun pretended to be afraid and hid behind me when Bada came.

“You two…” she said as she pointed at the both of them. “You’d bad mouth your countrymen just to score with a foreigner?”

“Ani… we’re just telling the truth,” Yoo Chun said.

“Are you saying I’m no better then?” she asked.

“Nuna… we simply can’t compare you with any girl around here… you are the Princess of the Sea… how can we compare you to any earthling,” Chang Min said.

“Really…” she raised an eyebrow at him.

“The only one comparable to you is the Prince of the Sea,” Jun Su chuckled, and then he and Chang Min high-fived.

“You brats…” she said, pretending to be livid.

I stood there, trying very hard not to laugh at their exchange.

“And who might your lady friend here be?” she asked.

“Sierra-imnida,” I said, and held out my hand.

“Bada-imnida,” she said and shook my hand. “Didn’t you interview me this afternoon?”

“Yes I did,” I said.

“Nice to see you again. I didn’t think anyone from the press would be here tonight.”

“We invited her,” Eru said.

“I see,” she smiled.

“There you are,” someone suddenly said, and grabbed my arm. “I’m borrowing Sierra-shi,” he added as he dragged me off.

I was hauled a good 10 feet away from the group before I realized who it was.

“Jae Joong-shi,” I called out his name. “Where are you taking me?”

“Don’t you feel it’s noisy in here?” he said as he brought me into one of the rooms, and then opened the door to its balcony.

“Ah… chot’a…” he said as he inhaled the sea breeze.

It was 2nd time today, alone with Jae Joong. Why does it seem as if he has some profound interest in me?

Chapter 11: Closing In

It was the morning before the concert on Siloso Beach. I’d hardly slept the night before, and when I woke up that morning, I could’ve been a bit paranoid, but I believe that dark circles were actually forming under my eyes.

“Danae…” I called out to my sister as I knocked on her door.

“What?” came her muffled reply.

“I need to borrow your concealer,” I said.

I stood there tapping my feet impatiently for almost a minute before she finally opened the door. Her long hair was disheveled, and her eyes were practically glued shut.

“Can you please get your own makeup?” she grumbled as she tossed the concealer at me and closed her door.

I put my makeup on in a hurry. Jeong Hoon was picking me and taking me to Sentosa. He’d taken the day off.

“Chunbihae?” he said as I put on my seatbelt.

“Ne!” I said happily, as I put on my sunglasses. “Let’s go!”

I was actually surprised that Jeong Hoon would be so supportive. I thought that he would refuse to have anything to do with me meeting TVXQ, and here he is, driving me to Sentosa where they are.

“What are you going to while I’m meeting my boyfriends?” I teased.

“I could meet up with my girlfriends,” he turned to face me, and gave me a cheeky smile.

“You do that,” I said, and crossed my arms.

I looked straight on at the road ahead, and stayed silent for awhile.

“Ya…” he finally broke the silence.

I pretended not to hear him.

“Ya…” he said and grabbed my hand.

“Mwo?”

“I won’t meet them,” he said.

“Who?”

“My girlfriends,” he said, and squeezed my hand.

I laughed, and smacked his thigh.

“You’re still insisting they exist then?” I said.

“Mind you,” he said. “They do…”

“Araso…” I said.

We got there, and I had to rush to Coastes, near Siloso Beach. They’d sectioned off an area at the bar, since it was still daytime. Reporters would be brought in one by one to interview the different singers who were performing tonight.

I was in such a rush so as to not miss my first interview; I ran face first into some guy’s shoulder.

“Sorry, sorry,” I said quickly, and moved back.

“Kwaen…” he started. “It’s okay,” he said with heavily accented English.

I looked up to see who it was, and nearly fainted from shock.

“Are you okay?” he asked me.

“Yes,” I quickly recovered. “Yes,” I repeated.

“Reporter?” he said, and pointed at my badge.

“Yes,” I said. “Kija.”

“You speak Korean?” he asked

“Very little,” I smiled.

“Okay…” he laughed. “I’m Eru.”

“Yes, I know,” I smiled.

“You know?” he said, in astonishment.

“I should,” I said. “Since I’m here to interview you.”

“Ah, yes… the interview,” he smiled. “Shall we?” he said and gestured towards the entrance of the bar.

“Okay,” I smiled. And we walked in together.

We walked in and the place was overrun with reporters and singers. Some of the singers were already being interviewed. There were some doing video interviews in a much more secluded corner. After the bouncer verified my pass, he let me in and walked towards the coordinator.

“I’m from ‘Hot!’. May I know who I’m interviewing now?” I asked.

“Sierra… you’re interviewing Eru,” she said. “He just arrived.”

She gestured to the corner where he was already seated. There was someone beside him, which I presumed was the translator.

“Thanks,” I said, and went over.

“Annyeong haseyo,” I said when I got to the table.

“Annyeong haseyo,” he stood up and held out his hand.

“I’m Sierra,” I said.

“Ah… I knew I forgot something,” he said. “I forgot to ask for your name earlier.”

“You won’t remember it for long,” I smiled. “You’re going to meet dozens of reporters in the next few hours, and you won’t be able to remember my name by the end of the day.”

“Trust me,” he said. “I would remember.”

He turned to speak to the translator briefly. She nodded and left the table.

“And here I was wondering why you needed a translator,” I said. “You’ve lived and studied in America, haven’t you?”

“Yes,” he smiled. “I suppose the organizers didn’t know.”

“I guess,” I smiled.

“Shall we begin?” he said.

“Sure,” I said.

We spoke for a good 20 minutes before it was time for the next reporter to take over.

“Thank you for your time, Eru-shi,” I said.

“No problem,” he smiled. “I’ll see you around?” he said.

“I’ll be around,” I said.

“Hyung!” a couple of familiar voices called out just as I was leaving the table.

“You guys are late,” Eru said in Korean.

“There was a jam,” a very familiar voice said.

I turned around and there they were, TVXQ.

“Looks like you got the good one before us,” Yoo Chun joked.

“Sierra-shi,” Eru said. “I supposed you know who these guys are,” he said.

“Yes,” I smiled. “Annyeong haseyo,” I said, and gave a little bow.

“Oh! She speaks Korean?” Chang Min exclaimed.

“A little,” Eru said.

“Are you interviewing us?” Jun Su asked, his voice filled with interest.

“Ne,” I replied.

“Now?” Chang Min asked.

“I don’t know,” I said. “I need to check my schedule,” I said as I looked at the sheet the coordinator had given me.

“Which magazine are you from?” Yun Ho asked.

“Hot!” I said.

“Ah…” they all said together.

“Your table’s this way,” their assistant came up to inform them.

“And I’ll see you in a few hours,” I said, as I gestured to my schedule.

“Great,” Yoo Chun said.

“See you later,” Yun Ho added.

Jae Joong didn’t speak the whole time, but he did smile as they were leaving.

About 2 hours later, I finally came to TVXQ’s table.

“Annyeong haseyo,” I bowed.

“Hey…” Yoo Chun said. “Sit down.”

“How’s everybody?” I asked as I took out my notebook.

“Fine,” the 5 of them chorused.

“Ah, you’re speaking now,” I smiled at Yun Ho & Jae Joong.

“Me?” Yun Ho said.

He’s as adorable as I’d always imagined him to be.

“Jae Joong shi,” I smiled and gestured toward him and Jae Joong.

“They are shy,” Jun Su said.

Their English may be a bit limited, but they definitely didn’t have a problem making small conversations.

“I bet they are,” I said, and I flipped my notebook to the page where I had written down the questions I’d wanted to ask them.

In 20 minutes, it was over. I’d managed to control myself and not drool over TVXQ while getting them to answer my questions.

“Will we see you again, Sierra-shi?” Chang Min asked.

“Probably at the concert. Why?” I replied.

“You’re the only reporter today who seems to know some Korean. We’re feeling a bit left out around here with everyone speaking English and Chinese.”

“But don’t you speak some Chinese?” I asked him.

“We speak very little Chinese,” Jun Su said. “If you know we speak Chinese, you probably know how good we are at it,” he grinned.

“Your English is passable,” I smiled. “I can understand you.”

“Ahem,” the next reporter cleared her throat.

“Shillaehamnida,” I said. “I’ll speak to you again when I have the chance since the next reporter is waiting.”

“Okay,” Yoo Chun said, and they bowed. I bowed back and moved away from their table.

I was at breaking point by the time I ended my interview with Wang Lee Hom, who was the last on my list. I was hyperventilating when I walked out of the bar. I had just met TVXQ, and I wasn’t even allowed to scream. I took a brisk walk towards the beach, and as soon as I neared the surf, I screamed as loud as I could.

“Feel better now?” I heard someone say.

I turned around, and there stood a very good reason for me to scream again.

Chapter 10: I See

The weekend soon came, and I’ve survived yet another 5 working days. Shin Hee, Jeong Hoon’s cousin, had gone back to Seoul, and I had him to myself for the weekend.

“What do you want to do?” he asked me, as soon as I got into his car.

“Shopping?”

“What’s new…” he sighed, but smiled as he did.

“Eat?”

“So we shop and eat?”

“Ne,” I said as I started fiddling with the radio in his car.

I ejected his Eru CD and replaced it with FTTS, immediately skipping the first 2 songs so that ‘Namjadapgeh’ played.

“Do you mind?” he said jokingly.

“Not at all,” I smiled sweetly, and I started to sing along to FTTS.

When the chorus began, Jeong Hoon started singing along too. If I’ve never mentioned this, Jeong Hoon had a beautiful voice. It was a waste he was never signed by a record company. With his good looks and that voice, he could’ve garnered a market in Singapore for the Korean music industry.

We wove through the weekend jam at Orchard Road and ended up at Wisma Atria. It was our usual haunt, and the place that I shopped at the most since I was too lazy to go elsewhere. Sometimes we’d go to Raffles’ City because I wanted to have crepe at Out of the Pan, by the central fountain in the building.

“Brunch first?” he asked me, and I nodded as we got out of his car.

We met up in front of his car and I put my arm around his waist as he clicked the button on his car remote to lock the doors.

“Kaja,” he said, and he gave me a quick kiss on the lips.

We had lunch at Sushi Tei, which was situated on the Takashimaya side of the Ngee Ann City building, and then, we browsed through most of the shops in the basement area of Wisma Atria. I’d spent at least 20 minutes in each shop, flipping through the blouses, pants and skirts and trying on every pair of shoe I thought looked cute, each time asking Jeong Hoon if it looked good on me.

“Igo?” I asked him as I modeled a pair of strappy sandals.

“Don’t you think it looks a little uncomfortable? Shouldn’t you walk around in them before you decide?” he said.

This was one of the reason Jeong Hoon was a dream boyfriend. He would accompany me patiently as I browsed through the shops, even when he knew I wasn’t going to buy anything, and he’d have the right comment or opinion for any question I asked. In return, I’d accompany him when he browsed through the men’s sections or shops.

Jeong Hoon was image conscious, but he wasn’t exactly metrosexual either. There would be days where I wish he’d put more effort when dressing up, but most of the time, he never disappointed me, especially when we had anywhere special to go.

“Wanna stop for a break?” he asked me when he noticed that I’d begun to lean on him when I walked.

I usually start doing that when my feet start getting tired or if they’re hurting, I’d lean on Jeong Hoon for support. That was also because I stubbornly want to walk on instead of taking a break.

“Let’s walk a bit more,” I smiled.

“1 more shop,” he said, and I nodded.

After the last shop, we walked towards Coffee Bean for a break.

“Full… as usual,” I said.

“You get a seat, I’ll get the coffee,” he said.

I was lucky enough to snag us the nice couches that were usually unavailable. I sat down as soon as the couple before me left and started sorting out the shopping bags, but was interrupted midway.

“Is this seat taken,” a male voice said.

“Yes,” I said quickly and looked up to find Min Woo standing before me.

“Hello,” he smiled. “I saw you walking in, and I just had to say hello.”

“Min Woo,” I laughed. “Well, you’ve said hello, you can go now,” I said and he pretended to leave but I grabbed his arm before he managed to walk off. “I was kidding.”

“I know,” he laughed. “So was I… where’s your boyfriend? I’d better leave before he sees me.”

“You don’t have to do that. I should introduce you to him. You might like each other,” I said.

“You’re sure he won’t shoot me?” Min Woo said.

“A fellow countryman? Why would he?” I laughed.

“He’s Korean too?” Min Woo remarked, with an eyebrow raised.

“Ne.”

“You didn’t tell me that.”

“You never asked.”

“What… was I supposed to come to you and go ‘Is your boyfriend Korean?’?”

“Yea…” I laughed.

“At least that explains why your Korean sounds almost authentic,” he said.

“It does?” I beamed.

“Almost,” he smiled, and I felt a little deflated.

“Sierra?” Jeong Hoon appeared.

“Jeong Hoon,” I smiled and stood up to intercept the tray from him.

“Annyeong haseyo,” Min Woo said as he offered his hand to Jeong Hoon.

I might have forgotten to mention to Jeong Hoon that Min Woo was Korean, so he looked a little taken aback when Min Woo spoke in Korean.

“Annyeong haseyo,” he recovered. “Jeong Hoon-imnida. Sierra-ui namja chingu,” he said.

“Min Woo-eyo,” Min Woo replied. “Sierra-ui sajangnim.”

“Okay… now we can switch back to English before you guys start saying stuff I don’t understand,” I piped in.

I’d successfully broken the tension at this point, since the both of them cracked up and started laughing.

“Is she always this funny?” Min Woo asked Jeong Hoon.

“Yea… but it does border on lame sometimes,” he smirked at me, and I pouted.

“I’ll leave you 2 to enjoy your coffee break,” Min Woo said.

“Not joining us?” I asked.

“I’ve already had my coffee,” he smiled. “And I have another appointment.”

“Alright,” I smiled.

“Annyeonghikyeseyo,” Min Woo said.

“Annyeonghikaseyo,” Jeong Hoon said.

“Wasn’t that like a very formal goodbye?” I asked Jeong Hoon as soon as Min Woo was out of earshot.

“We’re only meeting for the first time. There’s nothing wrong with being formal.”

“Right… and he’s my boss,” I said.

“Yea…” he said as he started moving our cups and cakes off the tray and he walked off for a moment to put it back at the counter.

We ate in silence for a minute or two before he spoke up.

“So that’s your boss.”

“Not my immediate superior, but yes, my boss.”

“He’s really young,” Jeong Hoon said.

“He’s about your age.”

“Really?”

“But you look very young for your age, have I told you that?” I smiled, and Jeong Hoon laughed softly.

“Yes you have,” he smiled as he reached forward to nudge my chin with his finger.

We got home close to midnight that day. We had late dinner and went to a jazz bar after that to relax and listen to some music. When I got home, the living room was dark, save for the lamp my sister had left on. She’d been going to bed really early these days. Could be because her work environment had been extra hectic recently, since her company was getting a sudden influx of projects.

Jeong Hoon and I had gotten carried away tonight since I’ll be on assignment next weekend at Sentosa. I’d been assigned to cover a huge concert on Siloso Beach. Top performers from all over Asia have been invited to participate in this event. Finally… I’m going to meet TVXQ!

Chapter 9: Maybe

It was the bracelet Jeong Hoon had given me last Christmas. My hand immediately went to my wrist and it was bare. I hadn’t even noticed that it had fallen off. Thank god Jeong Hoon hadn’t noticed, or he’d have gotten pretty upset. Min Woo had actually driven all the way here to return it. That was nice of him, almost too nice of him. I’ll need to thank him personally tomorrow.

I walked into my apartment and caught my sister and Dong Wook playing footsie in front of the TV again.

“You’re pretty late tonight,” my sister remarked.

“I had to meet up with Jeong Hoon and his cousin.”

“I didn’t know he had a cousin,” she said.

“What do you know about him?” I laughed.

“Cousin?” Dong Wook said. “Shin Hee’s in town?”

“Yea, you’ve met her?” I asked him.

“She’s been here a few times,” he said.

“But I’ve never met her.”

“Before you and Jeong Hoon started dating, she came down quite often during her holidays.”

“Are you saying that he’s told her not to visit him since we started dating?”

“Could be,” he shrugged. “Having her around can be pretty tiring. So Jeong Hoon probably preferred if she didn’t come, or he’d be so stressed dealing with the both of you.”

“Am I that hard to deal with?” I said, planting a hand on my hip.

“Of course not,” he smiled sweetly.

“Aisshiii,” I laughed and I turned to walk to my room.

The next morning, I paid Min Woo a visit as soon as I dropped my bags at my desk.

“Sonbae,” I said as I knocked on his door.

“Ah, Sierra,” he greeted me. “Why are you calling me sonbae again?” he pretended to sound offended.

“Mianhada,” I smiled. “Min Woo-ssi.”

“That’s better. What can I do for you?”

“I wanted to thank you for sending my bracelet back to me. All the way to my apartment,” I said. “By the way, how did you know where I lived?”

“Let’s just say I have my ways,” he winked. “It’s no trouble. I felt like driving, so…”

“Well, thank you. It was a gift from my boyfriend, and he would’ve gone berserk if he realized I’d lost it.”

“Then I’m glad I saved you from that possible scenario,” he smiled. “So have you handed in the presentation to Karyn?”

“Nope, but I will… in a moment.”

“Tell me when you do. I’ll go with you.”

“You don’t need to, Min Woo. I can hold my own against her.”

“But I want to. I know how she discriminates against you. I don’t need to be on the same floor to know how she treats you.”

“Why are you so nice to me?” I blurted out without thinking.

I was really curious. Why is he being so nice to me out of the blue? I’d been just another employee to him up till recently, and now he even wants to fight my battles for me.

“What do you mean?” he asked me.

As he looked as me intently, waiting for my reply, I decided to just lay it out. Can’t turn back now, can I?

“You’re willing to shield me from Karyn’s bullets, you help me with my work and you drove halfway across Singapore just to deliver a bracelet I’d dropped when you could easily get your secretary to hand it back to me. Why are you so nice to me?”

“Can’t an employer be nice to his employees? I’m here to offset bosses like Karyn. Where she is unable to perform, I come in to make up for it.”

“Are you sure it’s that simple?”

“Do you have reason to believe that it isn’t?”

“I just find it hard to believe that someone in your position would care about the welfare of someone like me.”

“What kind of a person are you?”

“I’m just the editor of the entertainment section, a junior editor at that.”

“And a contributor to making this magazine sell. You’re not just anyone in my book. Don’t sell yourself short, Sierra.”

I took a deep breath, and thought about what he said for a second.

“Aren’t you gonna sit down?” he asked me.

“No, thank you. I’ll need to get going if I want to avoid giving her another reason to rant at me.”

“Just so you know,” he added, “between us… Karyn’s not staying for long?”

“She’s getting a promoted?”

“She could be transferred to our headquarters in China.”

“That would be wonderful,” I laughed.

“Sure would. And someone would have to take her place eventually,” he added, and smiled meaningfully.

“And that someone is?” I asked him.

“Work hard… and you might stand a chance,” he said, and my mouth dropped open.

I was in shock at what he had suggested. I could be a Senior Editor? Was he crazy?

“I know it seem like a huge position to be filled, but trust me, it doesn’t take much. Karyn is a fine example, and we all know you will do much better than her.”

“We?”

“Me and the other senior editors. We’re rooting for your promotion.”

I left the room with my mouth still locked in the position it was in for the past few minutes. This is big news. I’d just been promoted to my current position, how is it possible that they would want to promote me to the next?

“Where were you?” Skye popped up as soon as I sat down.

“With Min Woo,” I said.

“Oooh… it’s Min Woo now, is it? What were you doing with him?” Skye said in a suggestive voice.

“Helloo… I’m dating your friend, Jeong Hoon, remember him; tall, brown-haired, sweet guy? How can you even suggest that I am doing anything with Min Woo sonbae?”

“Hey, hey… I didn’t even say anything. I was just asking you as a concerned colleague. I thought maybe you were being lectured by him or something.”

“Have you ever heard of Min Woo sonbae lecturing someone?”

“Sure he has. You’re just not around when those incidents happened.”

“He actually lectures people? Who?”

“Karyn?”

“He’s actually told her off before?”

“Sure he did,” Skye said. “Lee Min Woo is not someone you wanna mess with. When he gets mad, you wouldn’t wanna be at the end of the firing line.”

“I never imagined him to be such a person,” I laughed.

“Don’t be fooled. He’s no pushover,” Skye said as he went back to his emails.

“I’ll keep that in mind,” I said as I turned back to my desk.

I picked up my files and laptop and started walking towards Karyn’s office. Min Woo joined me as I approached her door.

“Sonbae,” I said, and I stopped walking. “Min Woo,” I corrected myself when he looked at me disapprovingly. “Chintcha… I can do this on my own.”

“I want to hear what you have to say to her,” he smiled, and he walked in ahead of me.

It was another hour before we finally emerged from Karyn’s office, with us being the victor. It was actually fun having Min Woo in there with me. Whatever ideas of mine Karyn shot down because of her obvious biased attitude towards me, Min Woo would stop her and defend the idea. By the end of the meeting, Karyn looked harried and subdued.

“Thanks, Min Woo,” I said as soon as the doors of Karyn’s office were closed.

“I didn’t think that I’d hear you say that,” he smiled.

“Say what?”

“‘Thanks, Min Woo’,” he said.

“Oh… well… it’s only polite to thank someone who has just saved your ass. Don’t you think?”

“Right,” he laughed. “I’ll see you around,” he said, and he walked off.

“How was the battle with the banshee?” Skye asked me as soon as I sat down.

“We triumphed,” I said, pumping my fists in exaggeration.

“We?”

“I was on my way in, and Min Woo joined me.”

“Min Woo? You mean Lee sonbae?”

“Yep,” I said as I started clicking happily on my computer screen.

“I guess you’re his new favorite then?” he said.

“Who was his old favorite?”

“Err… Karyn?” he said. “You never noticed?”

“I’ve never noticed anything about Lee Min Woo until the past 2 days.”

“Oh well… anyway… I heard that before she was promoted, she was sort of his favorite, and protégé.”

“Until he realized she was actually a banshee.”

“Yea… she changed into the banshee she is now, as soon as she got promoted,” Skye said. “I heard he was pretty upset about it too.”

If what Skye was saying is true, then I’ve just gotten myself into the middle of the fray. It seems like Min Woo is planning to make me the new protégé, and Karyn would have caught on by now. I guess I’m in for a bumpy ride until she gets posted to China.