Page 109 of You Had Me At Annyeong!
Why would Mina ask me to come here? I’m sure she’s at the very root of this, but why was she so panicked? Or was it so the boys would squabble among themselves? Mayyyyn, what a cunning aurat! And I keep thinking I should treat her better, be nice to her. As if the drama the other night at the Shilla was not enough. She wants more?!
‘Bujangnim, where’s Daepyonim? Is it possible to see him?’
‘He’s in the green room, getting his make-up done. I’m sure there’s still time for a quick hello. He’ll be happy to see you!’
Was he just cheeky with me or did I imagine it? DOES HE KNOWWWWW?!
He leads Timira towards the green room. Her phone vibrates to announce a text from Mina.
‘Is everything okay?’
‘Everything’s perfectly fi—’
Timira is typing a reply when she and everyone else hears the sound of something heavy hitting wooden furniture with a thud, followed by the visual of a well-built man tumbling out of the green room and falling on to the ground. That man is Rodrigo. And the one to put him there walks out of the room next, hands still curled in fists, tissue paper stuck inside his collar to avoid the make-up from ruining his white shirt, and curlers holding his bangs in place. His face is flushed red, nostrils are flared, and his breathing is fast and furious. Towering over the curled body of Rodrigo and preparing to take another swipe at him is Haneul.
Chapter Fourteen
Haneul has been unreachable since the fracas. News has spread like wildfire, with Kang Yoojin leading the pack. All of Sky’s past and Rodrigo’s delinquency are out in the open. Journalists swarm outside the SecondSkin office in hopes of a glimpse of Baek Haneul, the man caught in the middle of the raging storm, the man all of Korea is now sympathizing with. But he’s nowhere to be found. Timira had tried to follow him as he stormed out of the interview location, but Mr Choi stopped her.
‘There are cameras everywhere, Timira-ssi. If they catch you following him out, things will only get worse!’
Brows knitted into a frown, Timira had tried to calm herself down but she had only felt more enraged as her eyes wandered towards Rodrigo who lay about, bruised and bloody, on the floor. Haneul’s words rang inside her ears, loud and clear.
‘I’ve waited twenty years for this. You thought you’d ruined my life, didn’t you? Tough luck, Kenji! Here I am, alive and kicking. And I won’t let you ruin Timira’s life!’
Kenji? Who is Kenji? Why is Haneul calling him by a Japanese name? And what was that whole thing about ‘twenty years’?
‘Bujangnim, what’s going on?’ a shocked Timira wanted to know.
Mr Choi looked like he had frozen so Timira had to prod him.
‘Bujangnim, are you all right? What’s happening?’
I was right. My suspicion was correct. Rodrigo indeed is the Japanese boy that attacked Daepyonim. Sesanghae! Who would’ve even thought? What were the odds?
He quickly fills Timira in. In all their time together, Rodrigo had never mentioned this to her. All she knew was that he’d left Japan to get away from his alcoholic and abusive father. A newfound sympathy for Haneul grips her heart and she has to blink back tears as she hears about how badly Haneul had been injured.
With everyone focused on injured Rodrigo (soon to turn into the national villain), she and Mr Choi had quietly slunk out of the hotel away from the prying eyes of Kang Yoojin who had wasted no time in sharing with the public video footage of Rodrigo being manhandled and bundled out of the room by Haneul. It had taken him mere seconds to report about Haneul and Rodrigo’s history, as though he had been prepared for and expecting an outcome of this nature.
A livid Chairman Ri is pacing furiously inside his cabin as Mina stands only a few feet away, nervously biting her lower lip and wearing several frown lines. She has driven straight from the airport upon arrival from Busan. ‘How could you let this happen, Mina? I thought you said you had it all under control?’
‘Appa, I swear I did! I had a great plan of saving our club from fire while using Rodrigo to keep media and public interest in us alive.’
‘Ip dakchyeo[Shut your mouth]! If you did have a plan, then you should’ve seen it through! Did you know about this? That Rodrigo was responsible for beating up Haneul?’
‘Er …’
‘You did?Eonjebuteo[Since when]?!’
Before Mina can answer, there’s a knock on the door.
‘Come in!’ says Mr Ri impatiently.
Kang Yoojin enters the cabin, cloaked in an air of smugness. He had been summoned by Chairman Ri, and has rushed to the latter’s office, more eager than ever to face him.
‘Yoojin gija, I haven’t got either the time or patience to beat about the bush so I will get straight to the point. Why are you doing this?Wae? What have you got against my club, against Rodrigo? Why are you out for his head?’
Yoojin runs his fingers through his hair and smiles a lopsided smile.
