Page 59 of You Had Me At Annyeong!
‘Meollayo. Maybe a wrong package got delivered and nobody claimed it. Maybe the design team got too many free pairs and decided to be charitable. Well, who cares? Just wear them!’
Timira tries them on.
‘Oh, wow. They seem to magically fit me, too.’
‘Yeah, maybe the Prince left it for his Cinderella.’ Hanee throws a withering sideways glance at Haneul, who can only gape in bewilderment. He has no idea what has come over the usually polite and soft-spoken Hanee.
‘Honey, did you get me a gift and not wish to make a production of it? Aww! Oh, by the way, did you receive the package that came in for me earlier?’
Hanee is panicking now.
‘That, um, um, the receptionist called you by mistake. When I went, there was nothing for you.’
Even in Seoul’s nippy autumn, little beads of perspiration are starting to form on Hanee’s smooth forehead.
Timira can sense that Hanee is hiding something, something that she suspects might affect Timira. She smiles adoringly and pats Hanee on her head.
‘So on your way back, you found these spanking new shoes in the lost and found? Hmm, okay!’ Timira is trying to look and sound serious and failing miserably.
‘Fiiiine. I got them for you. Okay? Can we go now?’ Hanee sounds desperate.
Why is Hanee-ssi so eager to drag Timira away? What is going on? Is she seriously competing with me? Do I have to battle it out with her?Haneul was having a great time catching up with Timira untilthat blasted phone call from Mina. Oh, is that why Hanee intervened? To protect her from me? Hah! Cute! But, how dare she? Does she think I’m just stringing Timira along?
‘Thanks, my darling. I love them!Neomu yeppeo! [Very pretty],’ says Timira, oblivious to the mental crisis Haneul is grappling with. She coos sweetly in Hanee’s ears and hugs her warmly.
Turning towards Haneul, she opens her mouth to say something elaborate but decides against it and keeps it terse instead.
‘I’m sorry, Baek Daepyo. Let’s talk later?’ She bites her lip and lets Hanee lead her away.
Thank God, Honey helped me escape! What was I going to tell Haneul anyway? That his fiancée wants to meet me? Me, who has a crush on him and is shamelessly flirting with a taken man? Shame on me! And to hell with this triangle, of which I’m not even an angle. What the F am I even? A dot? Waise, triangle reminds me … haven’t had samosa in ages. Uff, what would I not give for a plump, hot one from Punjab Sweet House!
Out of Haneul’s earshot, Hanee stops.
‘Seonbae, I’ve forgotten my phone. Hang on, I won’t be a sec!’
Grabbing her phone from her desk, she’s dashing back to Timira when she spots Haneul, still looking bewildered, loitering in the vicinity of Timira’s cabin. An evil thought pops into her usually innocent mind, giving her eyes a naughty glint. She quickens her step, and as she passes him by, gleefully informs him, ‘The shoes are a gift from Rodrigo. But it’s a surprise, so don’t tell her, okay, Boss?’ A big grin plastered across her face and her heart beating wildly, she waves Haneul goodbye and runs off towards Timira.
* * *
JEJU, KOREA
‘Honey, let’s never leave from here, okay?’
Timira and Hanee, along with Mr Choi and Stephanie, have reached Jeju before the rest of the SecondSkin team. Stephanie, armed with a brief for Rodrigo, has driven off to the hotel where the Seoul Stealers FC team was put up for a short rehab/conditioning camp ahead of their upcoming AFC Champions League clash against Al-Nassr FC to catch up with him and bring him up to speed with the shoot plan. Mr Choi has sauntered off to meet with the set designer. A section of the hotel garden is being transformed into a mini football pitch. Timira and Hanee have a few meetings set up with local media personnel. It has taken them very little time to wrap those up, and they are now parked off the road, the vast sea stretching out before them. Pretty cafes and restaurants specializing in abalone soup and grilled mackerel dot the area.
Timira has read up on Jeju and its history before their trip. What has surprised her most and impressed her no end is the role of women in Jeju’s society and economy. She recalls Alice telling her about the mermaids of Jeju,haenyo—deep-sea diving women who are responsible for most of the fresh seafood catch on this island.
Hanee smiles indulgently. This is the first time since that awful evening at the football game she has seen her slightly cuckoo but strong and kind Seonbae smile with ease. Shivering slightly in the frosty autumnal breeze that Jeju is (in)famous for, Timira fishes her hemp smokes out of her weekend bag. ‘It’s not illegal to smoke here, is it?’ she quickly asks before lighting up.
‘You’re safe here, Seonbae. They’re all busy looking into each other’s eyes. Nobody is bothered about us,’ Hanee giggles.
‘What a predicament for these lovey-dovey couples—take in the beautiful scenery or take in one another’s, er, geography!’
They both burst out in laughter—Timira making smoke swirls and Hanee absent-mindedly twirling the candypop that Timira never fails to stuff into her mouth every time she smokes in her presence.
‘Hanee, have you heard from the pantry party? Have they arrived yet?’
‘Not a peep from them, my phone hasn’t rung even once! In any case, they aren’t expected for another … what time is it … ah, they won’t be here for another couple of hours at the very least. And with the number of stops they’ll make to snap photos for the ’gram, heaven only knows how much longer!’
