Page 102 of You Had Me At Annyeong!
An air of awkwardness and discomfort hangs around the table. Rodrigo is the first to break the silence.
‘Say, Mina-ssi, when are you and Baek Daepyo getting married? I heard you were checking venues in Jeju.’
Mina throws her head back and laughs. But doesn’t answer.
‘I’m interested to know about YOU, Rodrigo-ssi. Of course, we know who has your heart,’ she says with a wink at Timira. ‘When are you getting married? Timira-ssi is even dressed for it. Say the word, and we’ll have you two married right away!’ she chirps.
Rodrigo answers promptly, as though he has been waiting for this opportunity.
‘I’d marry her in a heartbeat, if only Timira would have me.’
Uff, this useless, deluded, cheating, lying moron. Why won’t he leave me alone?!
Timira is furious.
Mina, who has been smiling brightly all this while, is caught off-guard to find her heart feel heavy.
Why am I sad about this? I’m engaged to Haneul, my cheotsarang, my jaksarang, my first and only love. I am going to marry him. Then why am I feeling sad? Seolma!!!! Am I catching feelings for Rodrigo?!?!
* * *
Hanee has been noticing a man lurking around the office since the past couple of days and informs Mr Choi.
‘Geogjeong hajima,Hanee-ssi [Don’t worry, Miss Hanee]! I’ll look into it.’
To Mr Choi’s displeasure, and adding to his stress, he turns out to be none other than the pesky journalist Kang Yoojin. Fearing bad press, Choi takes him out for a coffee and pleads with Yoojin to not kick up trouble for his boss.
‘I’m not sure what you mean, Yeongjae-ssi! I’m only trying to write about Rodrigo and his lover. She just happens to workat Haneul-ssi’s company. Other than that minor fact, this has nothing to do with him.’
But seeing how ill at ease Mr Choi looks, Yoojin surmises there’s probably more to it than meets the eye.
Perhaps it DOES concern Baek Haneul after all. This could also explain why Mina-ssi was so eager to let me in on this!
‘This is a very important time for the company and Mr Baek,’ Mr Choi repeats himself for the third time.
Mr Choi has known Haneul’s family for long. He used to work at his grandmother’s company before she sent him over to Haneul to help set up operations at his new company. He knows about the near-fatal accident that Haneul suffered on the football pitch, about the opposition he had had to face from his father when starting SecondSkin, and how oddly troubled he has been since the hiring of Rodrigo, especially since the nature of his past relationship with Timira had been all but revealed.
‘But this has nothing to do with him. It’s entirely about Rodrigo,’ Yoojin explains again, making a feeble attempt at appeasing Mr Choi.
‘Of course this concerns him. Rodrigo is his brand ambassador and the lady in question his employee!’
She’s not just his employee… he thinks to himself, recalling all the instances he’s witnessed in the past few weeks. He had been suspicious of Haneul’s intentions since he saw him pushing for her name during the selection, but every incident since her arrival has turned that nagging suspicion into a firm belief that Timira is more, way more, than his employee.
Mustering the wisdom earned in his many years of experience, he calms his troubled mind and places a friendly hand on Yoojin’s shoulder.
‘Let me give you a better idea. Why don’t you interview Rodrigo and Daepyonim together? You may not know, but MrBaek was somewhat of a football prodigy. He might’ve been a bigger star than Rodrigo even, who knows!’
‘Really now? What happened? Why did he stop then?’
‘Oh, you know. He went to Japan, got injured …’ Mr Choi stops himself before revealing too much. Nobody outside of the Lees, Baeks and Ris, barring a few trusted employees, know about this incident.
But Yoojin’s curiosity is piqued.
‘Fascinating! I think I will take you up on that offer of a joint interview.’
I’m willing to bet my twenty years of experience that this will be the biggest scoop of my career. I can feel it in my bones. Rodrigo and President Ri, you are in trouble!
Chapter Thirteen
