Page 52 of You Had Me At Annyeong!
With that, she flashes a bright smile like her teeth have just been bleached, fake like the ‘Channel’ bags sold on Linking Road. She has to drag Hanee, who can only look at Timira with a telltale look of apology, away by her shoulders and gently push her out of the door. Turning back, she casually skips towards the espresso machine. As it whirs, she tears a packet of brown sugar open and pops it inside her mouth. She rolls her tongue over and under the tiny crystals and savours each of them equally. Her espresso shot ready, she picks up the mugs with both hands andexits the pantry with a parting shot but sans even as much as a glance at the audience.
‘Next time you’re curious, feel free to ask me. Please don’t corner and bully a young employee. She’s a good kid. Even after I’m gone, she’ll be an asset to you …’
The pantry congregation lets out a collective sigh and has only begun to collect its thoughts after being stunned into silence when the trilly voice makes a comeback. Only this time, it sounds like its owner is laughing.
‘Just to set the record straight, I’ve neither slept with the boss nor was it love at first sight. You can verify new stories and theories with me. Happy to help!’
The pantry congregation is not laughing.
Timira has half a mind to run back to her cabin but has to carefully balance the hot coffee mugs in her hands. With her luck, they’d be all over her flounced, white, broderie anglaise shirt if she even as much tries to pick up her pace. It’s not a very short walk back to her cabin, and her colleagues’ stunned but suspicious faces are now dancing across the dark of her mind. Some are also holding placards with ‘One-Night Stand’, ‘Adulterer’, ‘Scandal’ written across them.
Am I Demi Moore fromScarlet Letter? No, no, no. If I must be burned at the stake, I’ll be Joan of Arc.
Lost in thought, she doesn’t notice the wet floor sign, misses a step, and her knees are ready in a flash, like always, to give way. But, almost instantly, she feels a hand on the small of her back gently pushing her back up.
‘Here, let me. I’m good at handling hot stuff,’ a familiar, warm, slightly nasal voice teases.
The hand doesn’t move until Timira has steadied herself, which she takes what seems like an eternity to do.
Not again! What kind of a woman needs to be saved by a man every single time? Why, just why must I keep falling andmaking a fool of myself? Yaar, Bhagwan ji, could you not have made me a little more coordinated? Just a little?
She curses her luck under her breath, all while her heart has skipped one beat too many and her fingers have gone from trembling from the heat to being frozen. She is dying to turn her head and face the owner of the hand—after all, she has waited for this very moment the whole of the past week. But now that it’s finally here, she can’t seem to trust herself and is worried her face might give away her true feelings.
I can’t look too happy to see him, right? That’d make it too obvious. Why am I even happy to see him? He behaved like such a douche that day! And then just took off for a whole goddamn week. Missed my welcome dinner even. Does he think I’ve been waiting for him all this while? Why would I? He’s getting married to someone else. It’s not like I’m having an affair with him. Oh, God, I hope the pantry party isn’t spying on me. If I’m caught here, forget the pantry, they’ll spread rumours across the country! Will it reach India, too? Every desi has Korea on their recent search these days! Oh, no. Mummy will also know! Okay, focus, Tim, focus. Let’s first take this to a slightly more private space. Breathe, breathe!
Flipping her hair back, Timira turns her head to the right and catches Haneul looking intently at her, a mischievous smile dancing on the corners of his mouth.
NO, NO, NO! Not the mouth. Not that immensely kissable rosebud mouth. Ah, I’m going nuts!
‘Oh, Mr Baek, you’re back?’
‘Why, do you want me to gobaek?’
Timira knows what gobaek means—confession, usually one of love. Alice had explained the pun the first time they’d watched the time-travelling dramaGobaek Couple, one of their favourites, one they kept going back to every now and again. She turns a little red but mostly just wants to laugh at Haneul’s dadhumour. It’s similar to hers, something Bhaskar would always make fun of. She suddenly misses him and Alice and feels a pang of sadness. She hasn’t spoken with them since informing them of Rodrigo’s signing, having used work as an excuse to avoid their calls through the week. Overcome with guilt, her heart sinks a little and her shoulders drop.
‘Ms Marak, are you all right?’
Haneul’s warm voice puts life back in her and her gaze again settles on his mouth that seems to be moving, but dazed Timira can only hear a soft mumble.
‘Ms Marak! Hello!’
Haneul tries to reach Timira again and this time succeeds in breaking through her daze.
‘Yes, sorry! Um, I was lost in thought for a second there …’
‘But I am right here! Whose thoughts were you lost in?’ Haneul interrupts impatiently, teasingly.
Blushing hard, Timira tucks imaginary strands of hair behind her ear and finds herself unable to bring her eyes to meet Haneul’s.
‘You seem to be in a good mood today! Maybe you should have whatever you had today for breakfast every day!’
Timira attempts to recover some lost ground while continuing to stare at her feet, wriggling her toes that have been peeping from under the strap of her work slides.
‘Cheeky! Your coffee’s getting cold; is that how you like it?’
Timira had all but forgotten about the mug she had been holding all this while. She now notices that the steam spiralling from the contents inside has almost dissipated.
‘I did not plan on being waylaid. Oh, gosh! Look at the time!
