Chapter 13: From Bad To Worse

Zen was working out when he got the call. It was arms and chest day, so he was in the middle of bench presses, pressing his usual 200 pounds, when his phone started to buzz. His trainer, Moon-sik, who everyone just called "Sik" for obvious reasons - his biceps were the size of ATV tires and just as rock solid - reached for the bar.

"Hey dude," he said. "It's your phone. You wanna get that?" Sik had this habit of talking like a beach bum surfer from Southern California. Apparently spending a summer there at a weight training camp makes you a native.

Zen glanced in the direction of his phone. He wasn't expecting any calls today. It might be MC, he considered, but he could call her back after his workout. It would give him something to look forward to. God, MC, he thought. Just the thought of her purely genuine smile made him want to try harder at, well, everything.

"Nah, it's OK," Zen said to Sik. "I can call back later. How about adding another 20 pounds?"

The words were hardly out of Zen's mouth when his phone started to buzz again. Sik glanced in the direction of the vibrating device.

"I don't know, dude," he said. "Maybe it's important."

"Yeah, maybe so," Zen said, letting Sik take the bar. "Maybe I better take this."

Zen sat up to reach for his phone, and as he did the entire gym, male and female, turned in his direction to gawk and stare and, in some cases, openly drool. It was as if his beautiful shirtless chest was some kind of seafaring siren. Zen hardly noticed, as this was a fairly typically reaction. Just one of the side effects of being a human god.

Zen picked up his phone and glanced at the recent missed calls. Jaehee. He'd barely registered this information when his phone started to buzz again. He picked up the call immediately.

"Hello?" he said, standing up and walking quickly out of the weight room. "Jaehee?"

"Zen?" Jaehee said. "Listen, don't get alarmed, but it's MC…"

Zen felt dizzy and started to sway with all the thoughts that bombarded his consciousness in that moment. MC sprawled on the pavement, broken and run over by a car. MC collapsed near her desk, wordlessly and without cause. Oh, god, Zen thought, more reasonably. What if she was missing? He flashed back to thoughts and fears he was having on the day, and days leading up to, when he'd first rescued MC from Rika's apartment. What about the hacker? What if she'd been taken by the hacker?

Although Saeran had been recovered and returned, rescued by Saeyoung and Lexi-Ann, his captors, who they were and where they'd gone, had remained a mystery. That meant, in a sense, the hacker was still out there. Despite the best medical attention money could provide - Thanks, Jumin, Zen thought, reluctantly - Saeran's memory had been severely damaged. There were also few clues. The mansion from which Saeran had been discovered was vacated and empty when Saeyoung had returned for reconnaissance the next day, and although Saeyoung was still working through the data he'd recovered the day he rescued Saeran, nothing of real value had been discovered yet.

"Jaehee," Zen said evenly, suddenly coming to his senses. "What is it? Tell me everything."

Zen listened patiently as Jaehee relayed the news about the mysterious Higanbana flowers and winced a little when she got to the part about MC's full name being written in red ink. Then Zen started to relax. OK, so MC was not physically hurt or missing. Zen would certainly take an ill wish over the hacker any day. Still, he knew how MC felt about superstitions, and he noted, it was a Tuesday. Damn, he thought.

Of course, the first person to come to mind as the offender was Echo Girl. WTF, was she crazy or what? Zen knew that Kyungju liked him. He knew that she really liked him, and that she pushed the edge at every and any opportunity to get close to him. Just the other night, during the karaoke performance, she had started running her hand up and down his back seductively, which he knew, wasn't in view of the cameras. What was the point of that?

"I'm on my way," Zen said to Jaehee, and without a word to Sik, Zen pulled on his motorcycle gear straight over his gym clothes and sped his way toward C&R International Headquarters.

I have to get to MC, he thought.

When Zen got to C&R International, Jaehee was waiting for him outside the door.

"How is she?" Zen asked, pulling off his helmet.

"Well, that's the thing," Jaehee said, wringing her hands. "She's just sitting there, working at her desk like nothing's happened, but she's not saying anything, you know? She's not herself."

Zen took in a sharp breath. "Sounds like MC," he said. "Upset but not wanting to cause anyone trouble."

Jaehee opened the door and Zen followed her inside.

"At any rate," Jaehee said. "I think you should probably take her home for the day."

Zen nodded. They walked down the long corridor toward the main work area in silence for a few moments. Then Zen stopped and put a hand on Jaehee's shoulder.

"Jaehee," he said. "Do you think Echo Girl did this?"

Jaehee stopped to consider. "Seems likely, doesn't it?" she said.

"Well, I have to admit," Zen said, running a hand through his hair and sighing. "I'm starting to get really worried. Production for the second season of More Than Friends is starting in less than two weeks." Zen paused and bit his lower lip. "To be honest, I'm not sure I can work with her, Kyungju, that is… not when she's pulling crap like this."

Jaehee nodded and sighed. They were almost to the main office now and she could see Mr. Han through the glass walls of his office sitting at his desk.

"I hear what you're saying," Jaehee said. "But More Than Friends is a significant production, and that means significant, guaranteed revenue for the company, not to mention for yourself." She put a hand on Zen's forearm. "Zen, this is your career we're talking about, too, you know."

Zen sighed. He knew Jaehee was right. "God," he said, rubbing his temple with his fingers. "I know you're right, but I just can't stand that woman." He paused, picturing Echo Girl's pouty, bitchy face in his mind.

"You know, it takes so much out of me to work with her on the set," Zen said, feeling exasperated. "I mean, in general she's a pain in the ass, right? But you know what's even worse?"

Jaehee nodded her head "no" and Zen felt the heat of anger start to build in his body as another image of Echo Girl came to mind, one he didn't like to think about.

"Having to kiss her, god!" Zen said, freaking angry now. He had to squeeze his eyes shut to block out the memory. "It takes everything I have just to get through a scene like that."

Jaehee put a sympathetic hand on Zen's arm.

"God!" Zen said, again smacking the wall with the heel of his hand. "You know what I have to do to make that happen? To make it look convincing?"

Jaehee nodded her head. No, she couldn't imagine.

"I have to think of MC," Zen said, and he paused to look Jaehee in the eye, to gauge her reaction. "Yeah, I know, it's awful, right? MC would love it if she knew that, too, right?"

Jaehee just shook her head in sadness and sympathy.

"You know, I even got a boner once?" Zen said.

Jaehee's eyes popped wide in astonishment. "What…?" she said.

"Totally an accident," Zen said, waving a hand in his defense. "It was so embarrassing."

Jaehee was gaping, at a total loss for words.

"Oh yeah," Zen said. "Don't worry, she noticed... "

Zen would never forget the smile and look of satisfaction on Echo Girl's face after the kiss.

"Too bad that shot was only from the waist up," she had said, leaning in closer to whisper in his ear. "I knew you liked me." Then she had reached down and grabbed his bulge momentarily, not long enough for anyone to see, but too long. "We belong together, Zen," she had said. "We are destined to be."

Kyungju's words had given him shivers, and not the good kind, and he felt sick to his stomach as well. Zen excused himself from the set and made a beeline for the bathroom, where he threw up in the nearest sink.

"Zen," Jaehee said, back in the office. She had recomposed herself, but her voice was shaking. "I really, really don't know what to say."

"Don't say anything," Zen said. He was disgusted with himself. It was a memory he was trying hard to forget, and thought he was doing a good job of it, so far. But now, for whatever reason, he had decided to divulge this secret to Jaehee. Why did he do that just now?

"In fact," Zen said. "Forget I said anything at all… and please, please, please don't share this with anyone else."

"Oh Zen," Jaehee said. "You know I won't, but…" There was that sympathetic hand on his forearm again. "But I think you should talk to MC about it. She has a right to know. Just tell her what you told me. I'm sure she'll understand… and I think it will help her make sense of the whole thing."

Zen remembered how insanely jealous MC got of Echo Girl the other night during their karaoke performance. Perhaps at some level she already sensed what was going on, and trying to pretend it wasn't happening wasn't helping. Maybe Jaehee was right. Maybe it would be better if he just came clean about everything. Explain his acting methods and how he made it work. Explain that he thought of MC, used his feelings for her as a reference. Explain to her why it maybe appeared to be real because, in a sense, it was. It just wasn't the way he felt about Kyungju, it was the way he felt about MC. MC would understand.

But maybe he'd leave the boner part out of it.

Jaehee and Zen had made it to the main office and Zen could see MC's small frame hunched over her desk, her hair functioning like a curtain to hide her face. Jaehee was right. Her whole demeanor was off. She didn't seem like herself. She didn't even look up until Zen spoke.

"Hey pretty girl," he said.

When MC did look up and she saw him, her eyes lit right up. God, he loved the way she looked at him. He was so used to getting looks of admiration. He literally got them all the time. Those looks were always full of lust, desire, an objective I-want-you kind of thing. The way MC looked at him was different. It had nothing to do with his looks and everything to do with him, who he was. How she put that all into a look he just didn't know. She was so amazing.

"Zen!" MC said, popping up and throwing her arms around his neck. He leaned down to kiss her sweet lips. "What are you doing here?"

"Well," he said, encircling her hips with his hands. "I heard about what happened…"

MC glanced at Jaehee defensively. "But I'm fine," she said.

"To be fair," Jaehee said. "You are not fine."

"But…" MC started. She was so cute when she got that pouty look on her face, Zen just couldn't stand it. He wanted her right there and right now in front of god and everyone. He was so blind with affection.

"No buts," Jaehee said. "Look, anyone would be rattled by what you've been through this morning. Take the rest of the day."

Jaehee was saying all this while looking over the top rim of her glasses, so Zen knew there was no use arguing with her. MC surely would realize that, too.

"Come on, babe," Zen said, lacing his fingers with hers. "I got something in mind."

MC smiled. God, he loved it when she smiled.

Zen took MC to Mel's, an American-style diner near the University district for lunch. He knew how much MC loved all things American, now knowing she'd spent a year abroad in California, he knew why. Over cheeseburgers, fries and a shared strawberry shake, Zen outlined his concerns and frustrations about working with Echo Girl (not the boner part), and then attempted to describe and then explain his acting methods. MC listened patiently, but was so quiet Zen felt his heart beat progressively harder in his chest. For once, her face was a blank slate. What was she thinking? What was she feeling? He just couldn't read her.

On the way home, they had to stop off at the grocery store to pick up some milk. While standing in line, Zen let his eyes rove over the magazines and tabloids. There was often some sexy picture of him on the cover coupled with a silly tagline. ZEN: Beach Babe Says He Prefers Blondes (which he never said and wasn't true) or Lovey Hubby Gets Domestic (coupled with a candid photo of him picking out a laundry detergent at a local market - he'd honestly had no idea it was being taken or who'd taken it).

Today, his mouth dropped when he saw the cover of Enquire. It was a picture of Zen and MC leaving the karaoke bar. Zen had one arm around MC and the other outstretched to block the flash of the camera. MC was looking pretty sick. The tagline read: Zen's Other Woman Is A LUSH.

Zen turned to look at MC. The look on her face said that yes, she'd seen it, too. Zen's heart sank. Maybe MC was just right about Tuesdays. Maybe he should start eating red bean rice cakes for breakfast, too.

Damn, he thought.

Author's note: Dang, I think I finally know what this story is about (although still no idea where it's going to end up, LOL) ... so I've updated the title/summary. Thanks for your patience! Really appreciate the reviews/favs/follows... Keeps me going! :-) :-) :-)