The young man that sat in the small cafe was noticeably incognito. His hair was tucked neatly into a baseball cap, a pair of sunglasses encapsulated his eyes, and he wore a green mask over his mouth and nose. Even his simple t-shirt and jeans betrayed no brands and were baggy against his skinny frame- as if he had borrowed them from a more muscular person. Beside his fidgeting feet sat a pink gift bag stuffed with yellow chiffon paper and tied with a big orange ribbon.
Sitting at a table for two with a cup of freshly squeezed orange juice in one hand and his phone in the other, he glanced up as many times as he could, waiting for someone to arrive.
At the same time, behind the man in the disguise, two women sat down, their identities unmasked, and a security guard taking a seat close by. One drank tea while the other took a sweetened cup of coffee.
Neither parties noticed each other.
Lonely, Wang Eun tapped his foot as he scratched his chin beneath the mask. "When are you coming?" he asked into the air. "I'm bored." With nothing to do but sip his drink and tap his foot, Eun began folding the brightly colored napkins at the table while unconsciously eavesdropping on the table behind him.
"Tell me about your relationship with my brother-in-law," one of the women said. Her voice was soft and melodic, but her words must have jarred the receiver because Eun could hear coughing and a stuttering of mismatched words. He thought both women sounded familiar, but after hearing the screams of so many fans, Eun doubted he could differentiate between female voices anymore.
"W-What? Who? Your- I mean, you have so many brothers-in-law, I couldn't- do you mean-"
"You know exactly of whom I speak."
Eun scraped his nail over the crease of the napkin in his hand and folded it as he continued to listen, suddenly interested. The woman with the softer voice continued to speak. "My brother-in-law did something very strange, did you know? He performed a ceremonial bow to me and asked me to consent to your future marriage. I didn't know you two were seeing each other- let alone thinking about marriage"
Raising his eyebrows, Eun tossed a completed napkin crane aside and reached for another sheet, imagining a rabbit. Piqued by the conversation, he hoped they would continue speaking.
The less composed woman seemed even more surprised then. "What do you mean he bowed to you? I never told him to- when was this?"
"After I caught him sneaking out of your bedroom."
"Ooh," Eun whispered as he stifled a chuckle. He wondered what family had such strange relationships with one another as his hands worked like lightning, molding and folding the yellow napkin in his hand until a little bunny sat beside the crane. He thought about how he had once seen his brother in Hae Soo's bedroom. He wondered if they were still together; they seemed to have gotten better at hiding if he was seeing less of his brother at night… or had they broken up? Neither seemed to speak to the other in outside of Soo's bedroom, so he had no way of knowing.
"We… I wanted to tell you, but with your pregnancy and… I was worried about what you and Woo- your husband would say," the less composed woman said. Eun decided that she was younger than the more quiet and calm lady. "I really wanted to tell you."
"You were right to be worried," the older woman said. "I had half a mind to send my brother-in-law away, but then he bowed to me. He asked that I allow your marriage and then he told me that he loved you more than anything else in the world… and for some reason, I believed him."
The younger woman gasped. "Please, I promise we won't do anything stupid while living with your family. Please don't make him leave."
"Tell me about your side of the relationship. How long has this been going on and how do you feel about him? Is he forcing you to do anything? Is he forcing himself onto you? Has he hurt you?"
A paper plane was folded out of a to-go menu and Eun seated his rabbit into the paper vehicle so that it could fly away with its best friend, Crane. "There," he nodded. "Maybe you two need mates. It's awfully lonely just being alone," he murmured, reaching for more napkins.
"He's a good person," the younger woman protested. "He really is! He's never forced me to do anything and whatever we do is consen- how could you say that about your own brother-in-law?" Eun listened carefully as the older woman remained cool beneath the younger woman's outburst.
"I love you like my own, and when I think that my cousin is seeing a man eleven years older than her, it gives me pause. How do you feel about him? Be truthful and tell me everything I need to know in order to help you."
"I love him more than anything. He offered to buy me a house, but I said no because I want to stay with you until you give birth. There isn't anything to our relationship except that we're a bit far in age, but that doesn't change the fact that I love him and that I believe he loves me just as much."
There was a pause and Eun heard the older woman sigh. "Why do I believe you?" she asked, her tone taking a sad edge. "Why is it that I hear no warning bells and no sirens? The two of you seem so sincere in your responses that I can't find myself disagreeing. I disapprove of this match, but if you truly believe that you will one day marry him, then I will have no choice but to step back."
Adding another rabbit to the plane, Eun glanced up and beamed when he saw a person coming towards him. "SD Card!" he called, waving his hand. Grinning from ear to ear behind his mask, Eun stood and opened his arms to hug the woman that approached, completely forgetting the two ladies behind him.
"Silver Spoon!" the woman called in return, her muscular arms going around him. They embraced in the middle of the cafe and Eun gave a little bounce as he finally saw his girlfriend for the first time in over three months. Holding her as tightly as he could, Eun tried to lift her by the waist but ended up failing.
SD Card was a pet name that Eun had come up with for his girlfriend, Taekwondo gold medalist, Park Soon Deok. She stood just a few centimeters shorter than Eun, and her boyish clothing made her look less female, but Eun could tell exactly who she was. After all, he was always happiest around his best friend. He smiled whenever she called him Silver Spoon, a play on his name and his wealthy heritage.
They sat down together and Eun rested his chin in his hands as he gazed at his girlfriend. Girlfriend. He always found it so cool that someone like an Olympic gold medalist would date a little K-Pop star like him.
Soon Deok wore jeans, sneakers, and a blue shirt that revealed her muscular arms. Her black hair was tied back into a topknot and she wore no makeup, a look that made Eun smile. "How are you?" he asked after she had ordered a glass of water.
Soon Deok smiled widely and tapped her fingers against the table as she accepted her water from a waitress. Dimples appeared on her cheeks as she beamed at Eun. "I'm good! Training is hard, but I like to drink from the water bottle you decorated for me and think that you're cheering me on. But what about you? How have you been?"
Jutting his bottom lip out, Eun tilted his head, pretending to pout. "I missed you while I was on tour. They kept asking me if I had a girlfriend and I wanted to say yes, but I couldn't because I know you have to focus and can't have my fans tweeting about you right now. Did you watch the Running Man episode I was on?"
Eagerly nodding, Soon Deok grinned as she bounced her knees and rested her elbows against the table. "I watched it four times! You were so good even if you didn't win the challenge."
Eun hid his blush beneath his mask and watched as Soon Deok sipped her water. "I watched the documentary about Korean Taekwondo Olympians and thought you were really good in it," he commented as he slipped the straw of his drink into his mask and sipped from it. "Jung stole the spotlight too much, though. I wanted to see more of you, not my lousy younger brother." He smiled when Soon Deok tried to muffle her laugh, her large hand covering her mouth.
"Did you make those?" she asked, pointing to the origami airplane and animals Eun had been playing with. Her eyes widened in wonder as she exclaimed, "They're so cute!"
Nodding, Eun eagerly held the paper airplane up. "This one is me and this one is you," he pointed to the little paper rabbits that sat together. "And the plane is headed to Rio because I'm going to cheer you and my brother on!"
He handed the plane to Soon Deok for her examination and she grinned before setting it down. "My boyfriend always knows what makes me smile," she giggled into her hand and Eun puffed his chest out proudly.
"Of course I do! I'm the best at making you smile, aren't I?"
"Yes!" Soon Deok laughed. "And you're good at building things too!"
Their cheerful banter made even the waitresses smile and Eun snapped his fingers before reaching down to grab the package by his feet.
Passing the paper bag over to Soon Deok, Eun grinned at her. "It's your late birthday present and a few things to remember me by when you go to Rio. I'll meet you there, but you might get sad on the plane, so I got you and made you some stuff."
With an open mouth, Soon Deok immediately tore into the bag, crumpling the delicate chiffon paper and looking for the presents that Eun had picked out for her.
"I made you a new phone case and decorated a phone charger so you can FaceTime me whenever," he eagerly explained, almost bouncing in his seat. "And then, there's a new water bottle I decorated so you never run out of things to drink, and I sewed a rabbit doll for you so you won't forget me in Rio." He sat on the edge of his seat as he watched Soon Deok tear the bow off. "Oh, and I also got you a camera so you can take pictures in Rio and we can scrapbook them together!"
Nodding slowly, Soon Deok pursed her lips. "Eun, I love it all, but there's only a bag inside this bag." She opened the gift bag wide to show Eun a white duffel with floral prints and designs on it. "Is it yours? It's designer, so it must be yours. I think you should take your bag back."
She watched as her boyfriend's pretty smile never faltered. "The bag is for you too! I want you to have something pretty to hold all your goodies in because I think you're the prettiest girl in the world and pretty girls like pretty things, don't they?"
If there was a darker shade than the ruddy red Soon Deok blushed, Eun did not know.
He knew about how on a ranked list of the most beautiful Olympians Korea was sending to Rio, Soon Deok's name had not even been considered for the list. His manager had had to take his phone away to prevent Eun from angrily calling the publisher of that magazine and demanding he add Park Soon Deok to the list. Eun knew that his brothers' wives and his sister were all considered beautiful women and that Soon Deok looked nothing like them, but he also knew that none of his sisters-in-law could smash a cinderblock with their bare hand. And while that was more cool than beautiful, Soon Deok was sweet and truthful, so Eun liked her.
"Eun, you could have your pick of supermodels, pop stars, or actresses, but you're dating an athlete twice your size. Don't you ever get bored of me?" Soon Deok asked as she held the gift in her lap. Her expression took a sad turn as she looked up at him. "I just want you to be happy because when you're happy, I'm happy."
Reaching over, Eun flicked Soon Deok's forehead with his index finger and chuckled when she flinched and leered at him in the cute way he liked. "Shut up," he grinned. "I know I can date skinny girls that look like models, but seeing how my brothers live, I don't think I want to. Plus, those guys can protect their home, but look at me!" he flopped his skinny arms around as if to demonstrate how useless they were. "The heaviest thing I've lifted is a microphone! I need to date someone that can protect our home. I'm happy when I'm with Park Soon Deok," he declared, crossing his arms. "But if Park Soon Deok isn't happy when I'm happy-"
"I'm happy!" Soon Deok exclaimed, her smile returning in full force. "I'm happy!"
"Good!" Eun perked up and clapped his hands together. "Let's get whatever sweets your athlete's diet lets you have, so I can send you back to the gym with goodies!"
Eun paid for their drinks and then shyly grabbed Soon Deok's hand, carrying her bag for her. "I'm incognito," he said matter-of-factly. "Right now, I could be anyone- even Batman. Park Soon Deok, how does it feel being on a date with Batman?"
Raising an eyebrow, Soon Deok looked Eun up and down. "Does Batman wear t-shirts with Wang Wook's monogram on the back tag?" she asked, choking back a laugh, pointing to the slip of material that jutted out from Eun's collar. "No wonder Batman's shirt looked too big for him."
"Hey!" Eun quickly shoved the tag into his shirt and gave a harrumph. "I told you, I'm incognito. I borrowed one of Wook's workout shirts because Wang Eun would never be seen wearing something that doesn't perfectly fit him."
They laughed together and Eun passed by the two ladies that had sat down behind him. He almost tripped when he saw his sister-in-law sipping tea with Hae Soo. The conversation he had overheard clicked into place, which meant So his brother and Soo were still together… and they were considering marriage.
Eun maintained a cheerful grin for Soon Deok as his mind raced. So that's what So had asked the Chairman for after that family dinner. He'd wanted to marry Hae Soo. If he had already asked Myung Hee for permission, then it meant So was serious.
Eun wondered how long he would have to keep his brother and Soo's secrets.
Next week's chapter will be the last before my hiatus! Thank you so much to everyone who's been so supportive of this fic thus far- it would not have been written without your help!
My plan is to end this story and begin a new one as Book 2 or Season 2. It'll be a part of a series :)