Page 50 of You Had Me At Annyeong!
Omo, omo! What is that acid? Does she even know who I am? Argh, I can’t believe I’m having to keep calm and take this BS. What do those boys even see in her? She just has a ton of dark hair to hide her fat cheeks! Breathe, Mina, breathe. She can’t hold a candle to you! She clearly thinks attack is the best kind of defence. Uh, loser!
Pretending as though her ability to read between the lines has taken the day off, Mina prattles on.
‘I’m sorry I’ve arrived unannounced. I just felt, given the fact that Rodrigo plays for my club and is your client, it might be nice for us to know one another.’
Mina’s voice is a tad too sweet. She’s making a superhuman effort at not losing her cool and desperately holding on to the façade of coolness.
‘Well, thankfully, I’m not part of the client servicing team. In case you need directions, I’m happy to have my assistant guide you!’ Timira’s tone is icy.
Where is this nasty coming from, bro? Tim, stop! Stop before you embarrass yourself. Why are you venting at her?!
Mina, unrelenting, refuses to let it go. Laughing a little, as though Timira has been teasing her, she keeps talking.
‘You’re funny! Of course I know you aren’t on the client servicing team. Like, duh!’ Mina rolls her eyes and continues to smile. ‘It’s just that I felt I should step in, in case you held anything against Stephanie …’
Timira can now feel the anger bomb inside her ticking away furiously. She had spent the previous night trying to forget what had gone down at the stadium and now everything was coming rushing back.
‘You see, getting Rodrigo was actually my idea. Stephanie only went along with it because … well, because she and I go back a long way but, more importantly, because this company needs him right now.’
Is she here to tell me how much she loves her Asian Adonis and how this is all for him? Good grief, what is this chalta-phirta drama I’ve gotten pulled into? Why did Alice tell me all drama plots were lies? Everything is true. Uff, I should’ve paid more attention. Or not. Why should I care? I’m a supporting character in my own life’s drama. My sodding luck! Villain bann jaun? Tabah kar doon kisi ki zindagi? Khushiyan chheen loon? Mogambo bann jaati hoon, at least khush toh ho jaungi!
‘Mina, what are you doing in Ms Marak’s cabin?’ Tim’s Megamind plans are interrupted by Haneul’s nasal baritone speaking in slightly accented but perfect English.
‘Oh, hi. I’m sorry, I was visiting Stephanie and just wanted to greet Ms Marak on my way out. She’s new in the city, I was only …’
Mina mumbles incoherently, fumbling for words as she recalls the previous evening—Haneul’s face as he blocked Rodrigo from following Timira comes back to haunt her and twists her insides.
She and Haneul had gone to school together. She had followed him all the way to Paris where he went to study businessmanagement and had helped him through every loss, every heartbreak, every downer until one day her parents informed her that they were to be engaged. She had loved him all her life with all her heart, but she knew that he felt nothing for her. He had tried to persuade her to not agree to the engagement, but she refused to accede to his demands because she had been his best friend for too long and now longed to be more. She knew her father wielded enough power for Haneul’s family to coerce him into the engagement. She hoped that Haneul would eventually learn to love her. She believed he would see the truth in her feelings and honesty in her love for him and that would make him reciprocate. But to her utter dismay, she had been unable to plant the seed of love in his heart, and even their friendship had only soured since the engagement. She hoped that by helping Haneul sign Rodrigo, she might finally be able to find a way into his heart. But after witnessing the events at the stadium, she had started to think that she might’ve got ahead of herself and ruined whatever little chance she might’ve had.
Timira, meanwhile, is unnaturally agitated at Haneul’s intervention—now that she knows he isn’t single, she has decided to put an end to all K-romance fantasies and focus only on work—and before she can put a lid on it, she can hear her voice expressing it loudly and clearly. As usual, her mouth has outrun her brain.
‘Excuse me, Mr Baek. Can I help? Do you need anything?’ Timira asks Haneul. Her otherwise cheerful face is now devoid of expression and her tone frosty.
Haneul doesn’t know what to say. Two ladies, one his fiancée-slash-investor’s daughter and the other his senior employee, are chatting. He really has no business butting in.
‘Er, no. Since you haven’t been introduced to each other, I was wondering …’ Haneul stammers.
‘Wondering what, Mr Baek?’ Timira asks quizzically.
‘Yes, Haneul. Wondering what?’ Mina chimes in. She’s suddenly starting to enjoy this and her mood seems to be improving.
Wondering if Mina is giving Timira a hard time.Wondering why my life must be this complicated.Haneul knows that Mina’s eyes, alongside everybody else’s, were on him during his little showdown with Rodrigo.I wish I hadn’t made it so obvious, but he knows it’s too late. Mina is perceptive and has known Haneul nearly all his life. She knows him the way few others do.
‘Nothing. Nothing at all,’ he scowls at nobody in particular.
‘Oh, okay then. I’ll pop into your cabin in a sec,jagiya,’ Mina smiles wickedly. She is never one to indulge in displays of affection at the workplace, but today she seems to be feeling it.
Timira knows what jagiya means—lover, darling, dearest, honey. She groans under her breath and has to make a valiant effort to keep calm.
It’s been a minute and by now curious eyes have begun to hover outside Timira’s cabin. Their voices, hushed at first, have increased in volume and their murmurs are no longer gentle.
Heart beating rapidly, Timira tries to take in gentle sips of air even as every cell in her body wants to shove both Haneul and Mina out of her cabin, andout of my life. Mina’s eyes are fixed on Haneul, whose face looks to have lost all colour and who cannot seem to look away from Timira’s direction.
Mina is looking at Haneul looking at Timira. The Second Skin office has never before witnessed such a stand-off.
Timira is the first to break out of the awkward air that had engulfed them, her cold voice piercing the silence. ‘I think we might be putting on a show for the rest of the staff.’
Mina is quick to respond. ‘I did not intend to disrupt your work …’
