Page 91 of You Had Me At Annyeong!
‘… wait for you? Yes, I will.’ Timira cuts in.
Haneul’s face lights up and he gently squeezes Timira’s hand.
Timira smiles beatifically and announces out loud, ‘It’s cold, can you hold me closer?’
* * *
‘Did I not tell you that going to Jeju would be of no help? Why don’t you stick to what you know and let me handle this for you?’ Chairman Ri cannot hide his disappointment.
‘What do you mean, Appa? Everything went well! We ate together, shortlisted wedding venues, everybody got along well …’
‘Baboya[are you a fool]? What do you have inside your head? Clearly, not a brain. Oh, Mina, what am I going to do with you? Why can’t you use a little bit of that brilliant professional mind of yours in your personal life? Why do you turn into a stupid lamb where it concerns the Baeks’ son?’
Because it is him, Appa!
But she doesn’t have to state the obvious. Her indulgent father had been aware of this for years, and for his darling daughter, he had orchestrated her engagement to Haneul. But having witnessed Haneul’s behaviour in Jeju and heard from Stephanie about his growing proximity to one of his employees, he now isn’t sure if it had been the right thing to do.
Ah, if only Mina’s mother were here.
Feeling sorry for his child who has never really known a mother’s love, he reaches his hand out to pat her head but stops himself.
No, I must appear stern. Else this fool will keep making a fool of herself.
‘I’m told that awful Kang Yoojingijahas been frequenting the club office. Are you aware of this?’
Mina, who has been making little circles with her thumb and index fingers while staring at the geometric patterns of the floor below, is taken aback by the abruptness of the shift in topic.
‘Yoojin who? Ah, yes, yes. Don’t worry about it, Appa. I’ll handle him.’
She hasn’t the faintest idea how. She is aware of the wiry-looking wily fox of a man Kang Yoojin is. He’s notorious for his exposés of high-profile citizens. Celebrities are wary of him and the public loves him for his shocking revelations. He is the same reporter that had questioned Rodrigo about his controversial past and immediately threatened to derail the plan Mina’s dad had for the club as well as the one that Rodrigo was hoping to put together to win Timira back by writing a scathing article about Rodrigo’s history, replete with unsavoury details of his many transgressions.
Dang, why don’t I know about this? How is this old geezer a step ahead of me every single time? And why is this Yoojin gija taking such an interest in Rod?
‘Handle him? Are you sure? I can get the legal and PR departments to deal with him …’
‘… and, make it look like we have something great at stake?! Appa, we have done nothing wrong. We have nothing to hide! We ran a proper background search on Rodrigo before signing him, did we not, Appa? His record’s clean. How on earth were we supposed to know about some beef that he had back in his childhood? We were signing an athlete, not some swindler that we’d have needed an NIS-level search for! He’s just a “bad boy”, not a criminal! In any case, we always knew he was going to be trouble. We have prepared for this,geogjeong hajimaseyo, Appa!’
‘So you think we can put a stop to this before it gets out of hand?’
‘Leave it to me, Appa. I will turn this into a positive PR drive for us. You’ll see!’ assures Mina as an idea begins to take shape inside her sharp managerial brain.
* * *
‘Yeoboseyo!Ah, ye, je ireumeunRi Minaimnida [Hello! Yes, my name is Ri Mina]. Do you have a minute to speak?’
Yoojin is already in the food court of the Starfield COEX mall in Gangnam by the time Mina arrives, five minutes early for their 4 p.m. appointment. Mina had asked to meet him, and Yoojin had needed no coaxing.
The fancy, well-tailored suit over his lean physique is unusual for a reporter. Yoojin, in all his imagined impressiveness, is sipping on a coffee and reading messages on his phone when Mina walks in. Like a gent, he gets up to greet her and pulls out a chair for her.
‘Can I get you something?’
‘Coffee would be great, thank you!’
About three minutes pass before Yoojin comes back with a cup of Chemex for Mina. He waits for her to take a sip and then speaks.
‘I would’ve come to your office had you asked me to. You needn’t have taken the trouble to come all the way here.’
‘Actually, there are too many eyes that follow me around at work and too many tongues that wag. I did not wish to put either at work.’
