Chapter 20: Two Weeks Later...

Two weeks had gone by since Zen and Jumin met for their little chat, and Jaehee was very pleased when Jumin returned to work the next day.

"Thank god," she said. "One more day without Mr. Han at the office and I'm sure we would have at least lost the new tea account, if not more." She turned to me, clasping both of my hands. "Oh MC," she said, tears of relief brimming behind her glasses. "I am so very grateful."

"Don't thank me," I said. "Thank Zen. He did all the work."

Indeed, it was Zen who'd done all the heavy lifting, and unlike Jaehee, I think Zen was feeling a little mixed about how "successful" it all had been. Even though I think he knew he'd done the right thing by holding his temper and leaving room for Jumin to save face, I think he was also having some regrets.

"I mean, man," Zen told me later with fire in his eyes. "I really did want to kick his arrogant ass, really I did… that fucker deserved it… I mean, think of everything he put you through!" He clenched a fist with anger, but then sighed and put his head in his hands. "But I just couldn't… I mean, damn, the look on his face… god, even if he was sorry… which I'm still not even sure he was, damn! Would he even be able to say it?" Zen shook his head, looking completely conflicted. "That poor guy… His dad is a prick… He was brought up to be a prick… All he knows is prick… he doesn't know any other way."

I had to admit I couldn't imagine Jumin saying the words "I'm sorry" or "I was wrong" or anything of the sort. Even if he felt that way inside, which I liked to think that he did, he didn't have the words or the means to express his feelings.

"I mean, can you believe that dude's in Mensa?" Zen said, rolling his eyes. "Unbelievable! Dude gets recognized for having one of the best minds in the world, and yet he has the emotional IQ of a donkey."

I put my hand on Zen's knee sympathetically and drew little circles with my finger. "He's lucky to have you as a friend," I said, resting my head on his shoulder.

"God, don't I know it, damn!" Zen said, angrily.

With Jumin back at work and Jaehee happy, things were going pretty smoothly for me, I had to admit. So far, Jumin had kept his word to Zen. Ever since they had their little "talk" Jumin pretty much ignored me. No more impromptu sit-downs in his office. No more creepy looks. He even tended to avoid me in the chat room, unless, of course, Mi-Sun was there.

Mi-Sun was the newly recruited party coordinator. Saeyoung and Saeran had spent the better part of the first week following the family meeting identifying the perfect candidate, the perfect match for Jumin. Just short of a week ago, we were all gathered at RFA headquarters, everyone except Jumin of course, logged into the chat room and already making small talk while waiting for Mi-Sun to appear.

"She's got cats all over her Fakebook profile," Saeyoung said.

"And she's three times as likely to click on a picture of a Persian cat than any other cat," Sarean piped in.

"That's a good sign," Jaehee said, nodding appreciatively.

"She also runs her own business," Saeyoung said. "Something crafty…"

"...and likely to pair well with cat projects!" Sarean added.

"Well, everything's well sorted, then," I said, rolling my eyes. Hello to more cat commercials in my future...

"I don't know about the potential for more cat projects," Jaehee said, frowning. "...but Jumin will appreciate a woman with a head for business."

"Yeah, but is she cute?" Zen asked.

"God, is that all you ever think about?" Yoosung said. "Like your essential question?" We all looked at him in surprise.

"Wow, Yoosung," Zen said, voicing what we were all thinking. "That was so bold and out of character."

"Well somebody's gotta represent Jumin when he's not here," Yoosung said. "Otherwise you might just go to your head."

"Wow, Yoosung," Zen said. "You ever think that maybe I don't need to be taken down a notch or two in every conversation?"

"He's just getting uppity," Saeyoung said with a smirk that said he knew something was up that we didn't know. I shot Saeyoung a sidelong glance and narrowed my eyes. What the heck was he up to?

"Yeah, why is that, Saeyoung?" I said, deciding to challenge the redhead. I needed to know what was going on.

Saeyoung shot a glance at Yoosung. "Go on, Mr. Macho Mayhem, why don't you tell them?"

Yoosung's cheeks colored a bit at the comment and he looked down at the floor. "Well," he said. "I really don't know whether to be mad or not … I was at first, but then I had a call back…"

"A call back?!" Zen nearly popped out of his seat and through the ceiling. His response was incredulous disbelief. "You…?!"

This response clearly irritated Yoosung, which was maybe a first in my book… Yoosung irritated?

"Yeah, Zen," he said, wryly. "I had a call back."

"Well, don't keep us waiting," Zen said. I thought I detected a note of jealousy or maybe insecurity in his voice, or maybe both, I wasn't sure. "Call back for what?"

Yoosung colored in the cheeks again and smiled. "Queer Guy With An Eye," Yoosung said, a little smuggly. "They say I'm the perfect candidate."

Zen threw his hands in the air, clearly relieved. "Damn!" he said. "Ok, that makes sense…"

I felt the a-ha moment creep over me. Saeyoung at the family meeting had said something about Yoosung not needing tech to help him get a girlfriend. Maybe he didn't need tech, but he needed a team of queer guys with taste who could teach him everything he needed to know in order to be a top notch lady killer. Of course, I thought, an introvert addicted to LOLOL with no self-confidence whatsoever transformed - Yoosung was the perfect candidate.

"Way to go, Yoosung," I said, giving the appreciative "thumb's up".

Yoosung's face brightened immediately. "You really think so, MC?" he said. "Because part of me just doesn't know…"

I reached across the coffee table and grasped his hand, even though I know even this level of touching would set Zen off into the jealousy zone. I didn't care. He needed to learn, the hard way if necessary, that I was his and only his, even if I had guy friends. "I think you should totally go for it, Yoosung," I said assuredly.

Yoosung blinked and glanced sideways at Saeyoung, who nodded. Now what's going on? I thought.

"Well, since you feel that way," Yoosung started, his green eyes darting to Zen and then back to me. "The production company says I can have someone there… You know, on hand for moral support… It was going to be Saeyoung, but..."

Uh-oh, I thought, glancing up at Zen. I knew what was coming and I already knew I was going to say "yes", so I just jumped in there.

"Yes, I'll do it," I said, interrupting. In a series of about seven seconds, Zen gave me a look like "Babe?!" and I gave him a look like "What?!" and he gave me a look like "But…" and I gave him a look like "No need to be so possessive...I love you, my lovely Zen, and I'm going to show you how much later…" and so it was settled. I was going to be Yoosung's moral support at Queer Guy With An Eye shooting.

"You will?" Yoosung said, pretty much unaware of this whole exchange.

"Yeah," I said, reaching over to squeeze Zen's knee. "I'm here for you, bud."

Jaehee sighed and put her hands in her lap. "Ok, I'm glad that's settled," she said. "Now can we get back to the matter at hand, as in why we're all here in the first place?"

We all nodded. We had the proper candidate selected to be the next RFA party coordinator, and hopefully the perfect girl for Jumin, and we were ready to put our plan into action. So, the mysterious Unknown aka a reluctant Sarean, finally led an unbeknownst Mi-Sun to another apartment, a nice one bedroom that Saeyoung had purchased in the business district, which would allow us to keep using Rika's old apartment as RFA headquarters.

"This is bringing back really bad memories," Saeran said as he typed out the code to initiate the sequence and lines of green code flooded the screen.

"Just remember it's for a really good cause, brother," Saeyoung said.

"Yeah," Zen said. "Maybe we'll make a human being out of Jumin yet."

"That's the spirit!" Saeyoung chortled. "I can tell you're still not bitter at all or anything. Good for you, Zen."

"Try to look on the bright side, Zen," Lexi-Ann said. "If this works, you'll get MC all to yourself, for good."

"I already get MC all to myself," Zen said, squeezing a protective arm around my shoulder. "She's mine whether Jumin gets his head on straight or not… Isn't that right, baby?"

I nodded my head and squeezed his knee. There was something about the fire in his voice and the look in his eyes that made me want to propel him into the bedroom immediately, but I bit my lower lip instead. When Zen saw me do this, his eyebrows went up and he leaned in close to whisper in my ear.

"Is that what I think it is, Princess?" he breathed, his breath hot on my neck. Zen had pointed out just recently that me biting my lower lip was a tell, and that whenever I did it he knew I was feeling horny. Now he was using this knowledge to play with me.

"Want to meet me in the kitchen?" he whispered, letting his hand drop from my shoulder to my waist. I closed my eyes and took in a slow breath.

"Cut it out," I whispered back, smiling.

"Cut what out?" he whispered back. His hand had found its way underneath my shirt and was lightly stroking the bare skin of my waist.

"What's going on over there?" Jaehee barked over the rim of her glasses. Zen quickly yanked his hand back from underneath my shirt and smiled innocently.

"Whatever do you mean, Jaehee?" Zen said, and Saeyoung snickered.

"There are other people here, you know," Jaehee said.

Yoosung perked up, pulling his head out of his phone. "What'd I miss?"

"Just a little Zen on MC PDA action," Saeyoung said, dryly.

Yoosung looked confused. "PD... what?"

"Oh, nevermind!" Jaehee said, frustrated. "Let's just get back to work… Oh, there she is…"

And so Mi-Sun entered the chat room and Yoosung started talking about failing his midterms. I looked up and caught eyes briefly with Lexi-Ann. So here we go again.

Two weeks had also passed since my debut as "Zen's Lush Girlfriend" in the magazine Enquire. In the beginning there had been a lot of phone calls and a few packs of journalists camped out outside Zen's apartment. There had been a lot of "no comment" and, finally, just turning off of the cell phone. There had also been a lot of black hoodies and backdoor fence jumping to avoid the cameras… and, a lot to be honest... a lot of tears.

Case in point: When I finally insisted on reading the article, Zen was there to hold my hand. Reading the part about Zen and Echo Girl being "obviously in love" stung and made the tips of my ears turn red, but when I got to the part about me dropping out of school (which was true) and me being unstable (probably also true, but not due to alcohol or substance abuse), I felt true rage. Hot anger felt like it was burning inside my body, pouring out my ears and eyes like molten lava. There was all this heat, but yet my actual blood ran cold. My hands were like ice and I literally couldn't speak. When Zen saw this, he squeezed my hand.

"Babe, you OK?" he said. When I didn't even answer or even look at him and just continued to stare ahead, he got down on his hands and knees in front of me and cupped my face. "Babe," he said. "I'm here, yeah?" Then he wrapped his long arms around me, pulled me close and began to rock me gently. "I'm here," he said, stroking my hair. "I'll always be here."

I let him whisper the words over and over again and continue to rock me for what seemed like hours, but was probably more like minutes. Then, I don't know what happened. I just remember not wanting to feel angry anymore. I didn't want to feel hurt. In fact, I very much wanted to feel something else, something entirely opposite...

Impulsively, I lifted my head off of Zen's shoulder, pulled his face toward mine and started kissing him. I didn't even start slow, I inhaled him. The first kiss was so intense I felt Zen's body freeze in surprise and then relax. I let my hands go rogue, roving and grasping his body everywhere, pulling and tugging at fabric, touching skin.

"MC," he moaned when I shoved my hand down the front of his pants and wrapped my fingers around his hardness.

"Yeah?" I said in a throaty voice. "You like that?" He nodded. I knew I was being greedy with him, but I didn't care. I gave him a few more quick strokes before I removed my hand and stood up.

"Get up," I said, pointing at the couch. "Sit."

He looked a little surprised, but his red eyes quickly turned devilish and he complied.

"Wait," I said, noticing it was all wrong and pulling him up by the wrists. "No, stand up…" I said, impatiently. When Zen was standing, I went to work on his belt buckle. Soon I had his pants and boxer shorts down around his ankles. Not even bothering to wriggle them off, I pushed him down so he was sitting on the couch again.

"Wow, MC, you're…" Zen said.

I put a finger to my lips. "Shhh…"

Zen didn't really seem to be objecting. His cock was standing straight up thick and at attention. Like every part of Zen, this part was perfect, too. I let myself stare openly at it as I wriggled out of my own jeans and underwear. Not bothering with either of our shirts, I straddled him, one knee on either side.

"Wait, uh…" Zen said, touching my chest lightly. "Aren't you forgetting something, speed racer?" He smiled, one eyebrow arching wickedly.

"Um," I said, suddenly remembering the condom. "Oh yeah…" I started looking wildly around the room.

"There's one in my wallet," Zen said. "In my pants…"

I got up and started digging through the accordian of fabric bunched around Zen's feet until I pulled out his wallet. When I found what I was looking for, I held it up in triumph.

"Good girl," he said, leaning in for a long kiss. "Now, can you put it on that way I like?"

It was my turn to arch an eyebrow and smile as I unwrapped the package. Carefully, I unrolled the condom to make room at the tip and put in my mouth, cradling it into "O" with my lips.

"Oh damn," Zen said, his eyes lusty and red.

Locking eyes with his, I leaned over and positioned the open side of the condom on tip of his dick. Using my tongue as an anchor to hold the plastic in place, I rolled it down the hard shaft of his penis expertly while holding up both my hands like "look honey, no hands!"

I heard Zen moan and then pull me up fast to my feet. "Hurry," he whispered, low and throaty.

Quickly I complied, straddling him and starting to ride. Instinctively, I braced myself by holding onto the back of the couch. We moved together rapidly and in succession, the tension building. Suddenly, and maybe much too soon, I felt his muscles tense and his hands tighten on my ass.

"Oh god, oh no… oh, MC," he whispered and then he let loose.

I smiled, kind of proud of myself, kind of still horny.

"Oh babe," he said, as I rolled off. "I'm sorry… I couldn't…"

I smiled and leaned forward, giving him a long kiss. "Don't ever be sorry," I said, my brown eyes twinkling as I handed him a towel to clean up.

"Besides," I said playfully. "I know you'll be ready again in a minute."

Sometime later, after two, maybe three times more, he encircled me with both arms.

"You know what?" Zen said. "I kind of like how your answer to everything is sex..."

I smiled and shrugged my shoulders like "oh well".

Zen smiled and brushed a lock of hair out of my face, tucking it behind my ear. "Now, that's a worldview I can get behind."

Two weeks also meant that the production for the second season of More Than Friends was finally getting underway. So far, Zen had had three rehearsals and one day on the set with Echo Girl.

"So how it'd go?" I said, after about the third rehearsal.

Zen shrugged. "So far she seems to be behaving herself," he said.

She better be, I thought. After the night I'd had my big cry/sex meltdown with Zen, I made up my mind to send her the yellow gingham handkerchief I'd had made from that god awful dress. I put into the mail the next day.

A few days later, Echo Girl came storming into C&R Headquarters, bypassing Mrs. C the receptionist and making a beeline for my desk. She was waving the handkerchief in her hand like a flag, and the look on her face told me it wasn't a flag of truce.

"What the fuck is this?" she said, when she got within shouting range. Everyone in the office stopped what they were doing and turned to stare. When she got close enough, she threw the square piece of material on my desk and snarled. "Is this you?" she said. "Did you send me this?"

I tried my best to put on a blank, innocent expression, but a smile was tugging at my lip. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see Jaehee approaching at top speed, so I shrugged.

"Well, who the hell do you think you are?" Echo Girl hissed.

I leaned forward. From what I could tell I had maybe thirty or forty seconds at most before Jaehee reached my desk, so I took my shot.

"I'm Zen's real girlfriend," I said, sticking out my hand in a nice-to-meet-you sort of way. Echo Girl glanced down at my hand and made a face.

"Real funny," she said, turning her snub nose at my proffered hand.

"And also real true," I shot back. "Kyungju, I don't know who the hell you think you are, but you better stay the hell away from my boyfriend."

Echo Girl stiffened at the sound of her given name and her crimson mouth dropped. "Are you threatening me, intern?" she said, her voice was getting a little shrill.

"I'm not an intern," I said. "I'm assistant to the assistant of the CEO…" I closed my mouth after that, realizing as I said the words, that "intern" maybe sounded better.

"Well then, assistant-to-the-assistant," she said, putting a hand on my desk and leaning her face so close our nose almost touched. "Let me give you some advice…"

I didn't let her get any further than that. There was something about her being in my face, the fact that I could smell what she'd had for lunch. The fact that I felt her spittle on my nose and cheeks. The fact that she just had in a very real way invaded my space. My body took over and my legs shot up.

"Back the fuck up!" I shouted.

Echo Girl jumped back, literally I think, out of her skin.

Jaehee was suddenly between us.

"What's going on here?" she demanded. "Kyungju, what are you doing here?"

"Don't call me that!" Echo Girl hissed at Jaehee's use of her given name. She pointed to the handkerchief on my desk. "This…" she said, sputtering. I marvelled at the fact that her whole face, all her features had become unhinged. It was like she got turned inside out right before my eyes and I could see just how ugly she truly was.

"Your intern..." she started.

"Assistant," Jaehee corrected.

"Whatever," Echo Girl said. "She gifted me this handkerchief…" She said "she" like she was spitting venom.

Jaehee turned to me with a look of true surprise, an I-can't-believe-good-girl-MC has gone bad expression on her face. Well, believe it, I thought.

"MC," Jaehee said. "Is this true?"

I decided not to try to deny it. "I might have," I said, smiling. "As a token of good luck for her new production…"

Jaehee frowned. Everybody knows that gifting a handkerchief as a gift isn't a token of good luck. It's a token of ill will.

"MC…" Jaehee said, using the voice of a disappointed parent.

"Make her take it back," Echo Girl demanded, like a wounded sibling.

I crossed my arms across my chest with defiance. "I will not," I said.

By now Echo Girl and I were staring each other down hardcore. Her blue eyes were like blue fire. My hands were balled into fists. I'm definitely not the fighting type, but I felt ready to pounce. Everyone in the office had also come to a standstill. It was suddenly so quiet I could almost hear the wheels turning in Jaehee's head, repeating "What do I do? What do I do?"

Suddenly there was a new voice to my left. "What do we have here?" the voice said. With a little bit of calibrating, I realized it was Jumin's. When I turned, I sae Jumin standing there in a crisp pinstriped suit, meticulously straightening one cuff.

It was Jaehee's turn to sputter. "Oh, uh, Mr. Han," she said. "Uh, well…"

Echo Girl launched right in with her usual display of expectation and privilege. "Jumin, I feel like I must inform you that your intern…"

"You may refer to me as Mr. Han," Jumin said, evenly and in his most business monotone. "And Ms. MC is not an intern. She is Assistant Kang's assistant."

God, I wished everyone would stop saying that. When this was over, I'd have to ask for a promotion based on the fact that my title sounded so stupid.

Echo Girl's face turned beet red. "I'll damn-well call you Jumin if I want to," she snarled.

Jumin lifted his eyebrows calmly and with surprise. "Oh?" Jumin said and then he frowned. "That's unfortunate, because I believe it's a violation of your contract." He looked at Jaehee. "Isn't that right, Assistant Kang?"

Jaehee nodded vehemently. "Yes, Mr. Han, section 4, item 12…" she started.

Jumin held up a hand. "Not necessary, Assistant Kang," he said and then he turned to me. "Well, Ms. MC, it seems like you may be the only other person here with a head still on her shoulders so would you please be so kind to tell me what's going on?"

My heart was beating despite myself. Jumin could really have a powerful effect on a room when he wanted to. Frantically, I searched my throat for my voice.

"Um, well," I started and then swallowed, forcing myself to look at his smoky gray eyes. "Mr. Han, sir," I started again. As I said this, I noticed a vein in his neck grow tight and that he twitched slightly when I called him Mr. Han, but he didn't correct me. "I gifted this handkerchief to Echo Girl, sir, and she is a little, well, uh, pissed."

Echo Girl straightened herself up a bit, feeling vindicated that I'd outed myself as being the one in the wrong. I thought I saw a small appreciative smile play at the corners of Jumin's lips, but he held fast to that cold exterior.

"I see," Jumin said, picking up the handkerchief and examining the fabric. "Why, isn't this the same material as…?"

"Yes, sir," I said, making the decision to fess up completely. "I stole it, sir… from the costume department."

Jumin's dark eyebrows raised in surprise again, possibly at the boldness about what I was willing to admit I'd done. "You defiled this dress?" he said. Yes, the small smile was definitely there. He was proud of me, proud of me for sticking up for myself.

I nodded and forced myself to meet his eyes again. "I'm sorry, sir," I said, kind of meaning it. I know how much he liked that dress, even if the rest of us hated it. I was also feeling a little unpredictably proud of the fact that Jumin found favor with me. Echo Girl was having an altogether different experience.

"You're saying sorry to him?" Echo Girl said in disbelief. At this point, she was really on the verge of losing her shit. "Aren't I the victim here?"

Jumin sighed, not at all disguising his boredom. "Assistant Kang," he said.

"Yes, Mr. Han?" Jaehee said, poised with pen to paper, ready for instructions.

"Please escort Echo Girl out," Jumin said, but then he turned to her dangling the handkerchief in front of her face.

"Echo Girl," Jumin said. "This is a handkerchief. You blow your nose with it, that is all. Let me demonstrate…"

We all watched in fascination with our mouths open as Jumin blew his nose into that yellow gingham handkerchief and then handed it to Echo Girl.

"Oh!" Echo Girl said, turning away, disgusted. "Well, I never…"

I smiled secretly to myself as Echo Girl turned on a heel and stormed out of the building, leaving the three of us standing there.

"Assistant Kang?" Jumin said, the soiled handkerchief still dangling from his hand. He gave it a slight shake and held it out to Jaehee. "Would you please…?"

Author's note: Busy week at work, and more to come. I prefer to update bi-weekly, but looks like it's going to be weekly, at best, for now... Thanks (always) for reading, reviewing, commenting, feedback, etc.