Chapter Thirteen
The smell of fresh sizzling bacon hit Go Mi Nam's senses as he walked into the kitchen for breakfast. The only two in the kitchen were Mi Nyu, who was finishing the bacon, and Jeremy who was putting strawberry jelly on his toast.
She seemed extra happy, humming a small tune while flipping bacon. "What's got you so sprightly this morning?" He inquired as he stood beside his sister.
Mi Nyu didn't even have to answer this question. A certain beam from the window came down and hit her hand, shining something ridiculous. Mi Nam was almost blinded. When he looked down he saw a huge heart shaped diamond ring on her finger. Mi Nam quickly grabbed his sister's hand away from the spatula. "This? What is this?"
"A ring?" She answered cautiously.
"You...Tae Kyung...he gave this to you? He actually did it?" Mi Nam should've seen it coming. Tae Kyung is going to be my brother-in-law. Why do I have this feeling I should be afraid?
This caught attention of Jeremy who was munching away at his toast. "Wow!" He dropped his toast. "Mi Nyu that ring is so pretty." He got up, sneaking in between the brother sister pair. He grabbed her hand from her brother's, examining it. "Hyung got you this? He's got a rather good taste in rings. This has got to be at least 2 carats!"
"What are you a jeweler?" Mi Nam asked.
"It's what my mother does. I know my way around jewelry." Jeremy replied. "But Congratulations!
"Thank you very much, Jeremy."
"You are very welcome!" He smiled "When are you guys throwing an engagement party?"
"Um, excuse me. I'm here too." Mi Nam pushed Jeremy out the way. "Go finish your toast and let me finish talking to my sister."
Jeremy stuck his tongue out at Mi Nam and went to go sit down to finish his toast. He fight back because he did interrupt him.
"Oppa, why do you have to be like that?" She returned to flipping bacon pieces.
"He interrupted me." He shrugged. Mi Nam put his hand on her shoulder and gave a sigh. "But ah, I can't believe it. I'm giving away my little sister. Oh, you've grown so fast. Where did the time go?"
"Oppa, there's going to be a day where I'll have to give you away too." She joked. "But for now, you should eat something. We're having American for breakfast. I've already got toast, sausage, eggs on the table. I'm going to be finished with the bacon in a couple of minutes but in the meantime you can have some toast or cereal with Jeremy."
"How exotic." He paused, before suddenly hugging her lightly from the side- once again disrupting her cooking. "About yesterday," He whispered, "I'm very sorry."
"It's fine. You're my brother. It's your job to worry me a little, isn't it?"
He smiled, letting go of her.
"But…I think you should say sorry to Jeremy. He did a lot for you last night."
"I'll think about it." Yeah, right- like I'll say sorry to that roach.
"There's some tea in the refrigerator that should make your head feel better."
Mi Nam got a can of tea out of the refrigerator and popped the top on it. He chugged half of it down in a second, sitting with ease across from Jeremy. His sister had already set out bowls, plates and silverware for them. He loved eating his sister's cooking and coming to breakfast was now a more joyous occasion.
Jeremy glanced at Mi Nam, who had just put his tea can down and started pouring milk into a bowl for cereal. "Do you like children?"
"Why?"
"Just asking."
"It's none of your business." He said, pouring cereal into his bowl.
"It's just a simple question."
"No. They're annoying." And that was his simple answer.
"It's horrible you think that way." Mi Nyu busted in, putting the bacon on a plate. "We were children once."
"That doesn't change the fact they're annoying and noisy." Mi Nam played with his cereal. "And what does that even have to do with you, roach?"
"Stop calling me that! I'm a hyung to you! You can't call me a roach!"
"You're only my hyung by like a month!" He dismissed. "And I don't call people things unless they deserve it!"
"Oppa!"
"What?"
"Apologize!"
Mi Nam gave a half-hearted, "I'm sorry."
"All I did was ask a question." Jeremy sighed. This isn't going to be an easy Ye Eun. Why couldn't you have fallen in love with anyone other than Go Mi Nam? I hope Min Jee does NOT take after him. "So rude."
Shin Woo came into the kitchen. "This smells delicious. Western style breakfast? I like it." He took his place next to Jeremy.
Mi Nyu came over with the plate of bacon. "Breakfast is now served!"
Jeremy and Mi Nam's hands moved rather quickly, both of the boys piling bacon on their plate as she took a seat next to her brother.
"Hmm." Shin Woo sensed something wrong. "What is it now? You guys are too quiet."
Right as Jeremy was about to open his mouth to complain to his hyung, Mi Nam quickly answered. "Nothing." And bit into a piece of bacon.
Mi Nyu said a small prayer before also loading food unto her plate. Unlike previous mornings, she was devastatingly hungry.
Jeremy violently stabbed his fork into his toast. "This toast is you." He lipped to Mi Nam.
"This sausage is you." He lipped back, eagerly biting it in half.
Jeremy took the fork out his toast and began to rip it in half. "THIS IS-"
"Jeremy." Shin Woo looked down to the blond drummer. "Please contain yourself."
"But he's the one-! You're a freaking jerk-faced peanut, Mi Nam!"
"I'm no peanut! I'm only four inches shorter than you at best!"
"You are too a peanut! With a peanut brain!"
Shin Woo exhaled. His normal patience and tolerance for his ever bickering band mates was dipping dangerously low- but he didn't attempt to stop them. He just drank his tea. Mi Nyu couldn't stop them either. She didn't even know what to say.
"You've got a stick so far up your butt it's beginning to reach your brain and affect your ability to think!" Mi Nam spat.
"Maybe a whole bunch of roaches crawled in your brain and started to eat away at it! Then they realized that your brain wasn't even worth eating so they crawled out and are laying eggs in your stomach, using your body as a vessel to create a roach army!"
Before the end of that sentence, Mi Nam attacked Jeremy, pushing him out of his chair and onto the ground. Jeremy punched at Mi Nam, who moved too quickly for the boy to comprehend. Then they started to slap back and forth at each other, yelling obscure things the whole way. To an observer, it would have looked like too boys play cat fighting.
Mi Nyu was in a state of shock. "Wh-wh- what! Oppa! Jeremy! Stop fighting please!" She began to get up, only to be stopped by Shin Woo.
"Not until I squash this roach!" Mi Nam grabbed Jeremy's hair. "Let go!" He moaned as he attempted to bite Mi Nam's hand.
Mi Nyu swiftly glanced at Shin Woo. "Shin Woo-"
"Just-" He didn't even look in her direction, keeping his eyes on the boys on the floor. "Sit down and eat your breakfast."
"Okay." She stayed where she was, uneasy of the state Shin Woo was in.
He got up without a word, expressionless, creating a shadow over the two boys on the floor. Both Mi Nam and Jeremy noticed and moved off each other in a heartbeat.
"I've had it." Shin Woo said with an unnerving calm in his voice. The look on his face combined with how smooth his voice was, scared the living daylights out of both of them. They were too afraid to even say anything back.
Shin Woo looked to Jeremy. "Jeremy, do you want a time out?"
"NO!" Jeremy dreaded those words. "I'll sit down and won't say another word, I promise hyung!" He got up shakily, completely abandoning his fight with Mi Nam.
"A time out? What is he five?" Mi Nam got up to face his hyung.
"You want one too?" Shin Woo sounded really serious. Even though Mi Nam didn't know what this 'time-out' entailed, if Jeremy was afraid of it, he probably should be too. "Because you are really beginning to irritate me and I won't hold back."
Oh my god. Shin Woo he's really mad. I've never seen him like this! He'd really put me in time out? Mi Nam imagined himself in a corner with a dunce hat. God, I do anything to stay away from that hat again. That's ghastly. There's no way he would do that! We're…too old for that and he's our hyung… right?
Mi Nam gulped. "No, it's fine, hyung." He shook his head, sitting back down. "I'm sorry. I'll behave." Provoking Shin Woo was not the thing to do.
Go Mi Nyu had tried to eat, but that was kind of hard considering the situation. She watched the scene, crossing her arms in disdain at her brother's actions. "How could you do such a thing at breakfast?"
"He started it."
Mi Nyu rolled her eyes, not even wanting to start with her brother.
"Hey hyung…" Jeremy timidly said, looking over to Shin Woo. "Please don't be mad at me." His eyes expanded, giving the best puppy dog eyes he could muster.
Shin Woo was defeated by that look, just like always. His attitude leveled off as he gave a response. "I can't seem to stay mad at you no matter what you do. But one day I'm not going to fall for it, Jeremy."
Go Mi Nam could have sworn he saw little dog ears and a tail on Jeremy. That roach is a major suck up...
Barked the Jeremy-dog boy to Shin Woo, "Hyung, Tae Kyung hyung proposed!"
"Really?" Shin Woo smiled. This day came sooner than I thought it would. Still, I'm happy for her. "When?"
Now it was Mi Nyu's turn to talk. "Last night. It was so romantic. The ring was in my ice cream!"
"Was it cold when you put it on?" Jeremy asked.
"Actually, it wasn't, but it did taste like coffee."
"Why did you put it in your mouth?" Mi Nam shouted. "You're not supposed to do that."
"The ice cream it was in was really good. What? It was Mocha flavored. Plus it got it clean!"
Shin Woo and Jeremy both laughed while her brother shook his head.
"Mi Nam, guess what?" Mi Nyu continued on, catching her brother's attention. "Ye Eun was there! You know she works at the Peach Maid Café?"
He slanted his eyes towards his sister. "And?"
Mi Nyu hoped that would evoke something out of him. "I invited her to dinner on next Thursday." She spoke quickly; almost hopping he wouldn't catch it. So she had forgotten to tell him... at least it was still in advance.
"No."
There was suddenly awkwardness, Shin Woo and Jeremy tried their best to avoid, eating their breakfast silently.
"Wouldn't it be good for you to see each other after all this time? What's in the past is in the past, you've got to for-"
Mi Nam cut her off. "I've got to forgive and forget right? You remember what she did to me. How could you say that so nonchalantly?"
Jeremy wanted to break in so badly and tell him what he knew, but he just kept his mouth shut.
"Oppa-"
"No. She's not coming."
"What's this about?" Shin Woo whispered out the side of his mouth to Jeremy.
"My cousin Ye Eun. She and Mi Nam dated in high school." He whispered back.
"They used to date?"
"I didn't know it until awhile ago either."
Mi Nyu still pressed on. "Please open your heart and forgive her. I'm not asking you to get back together. It hurts me to see you like this. Please?"
He grunted, taking another bite of cereal.
"It's very rude to take back an invite."
"Who cares? You're going to take it back."
"Mi Nam, stop being unreasonable. Ye Eun might be your ex but she's also Mi Nyu's friend." Tae Kyung appeared, immediately going to the refrigerator for water. Upon shutting the metal contraption he said, "I don't know what happened between you two but get over it and quick. Because if your sister wants her over, she'll come."
"Whatever." He got up from the table, agitated. "Do whatever you guys want! It's not like I'll be here."
"Tae Kyung… You didn't have to do that. I shouldn't have…I shouldn't have forced it on him like that." Mi Nyu began to feel guilty.
"He'll get over it." Tae Kyung eyed the table. "Bacon! Just what I was in the mood for."
"This is the right place right?" Mi Nyu pondered. Well, she was about to find out. Ye Eun had told her to come over her apartment and she had found time after her visit to church.
The door finally cracked opened, revealing a tired looking Ye Eun. "Go Mi Nyu?" She croaked.
"Is right now a bad time?" It sure sounded and looked like it was. "I'll come back later then."
"No it's okay. You can come in." Ye Eun opened her door all the way, inviting her friend in."Please excuse the mess. My apartment is very small."
No words were truer. From what she could see, all her apartment was a kitchen space and a living room space. Nevertheless it was relatively clean for Ye Eun claiming it was 'dirty'. One thing that stuck out to Mi Nyu was the abundance of children's play things. It looked quite like the daycare she taught at. Maybe she babysits in her spare time?
Ye Eun led them to the kitchen where there was a small wood table. "Would you like some tea?"
"No." Mi Nyu replied, sitting down. She heard a squeak and felt something funny as she did. She pulled out a rubber duck from beneath her.
"I'm sorry. The place is so messy. I forgot you I told you to come over." Thankfully, Min Jee was asleep in their bedroom so she wouldn't be bothered. "Things slip my mind if I don't put them in my phone."
"Oh, it's fine."
"So," Ye Eun took a sit in front of her. "Tae Kyung proposed. How are you feeling?" Ye Eun tied her hair back.
"I'm…I'm so excited!"
They both squealed.
"I am going to help you plan this wedding. You know, a friend of mine came back from Australia not too long ago and asked me to help me with her wedding. I didn't think I could do it, but it turned out great. Then she recommended to other people and before I knew it I started wedding planning in my spare time. I'm thinking that if I can pull of a wedding like yours I could get my really name out there." She had every intention of getting back on her feet. "I'd finally have a job with a good salary."
"Really? That would be wonderful."
"What kind of wedding do you want? Anything you had in mind for a theme?"
"Theme?" She pondered. "When I was smaller, I used to dream of getting married in a huge garden full of pretty flowers."
"Well, there we go!"
"But I don't think we can do that because Tae Kyung's allergic to pollen. He doesn't like being out in the sun for a long time either; he doesn't like to sweat if he can help it."
There's always something with that man. It's either his pickiness or his allergies. "You could get married at sunset. That way he won't complain about the sun."
"He has night-blindness so he can't see in the dark. We even go to sleep with the light on."
Ye Eun let out an exasperated sigh. "You're trying to make this impossible for me aren't you? You just had to go and fall in love with a guy with an unlimited amount of allergies and extremely finicky. Just tell me this one thing, Mi Nyu. How did you fall in love with him?"
"Probably the same way you fell in love with my brother." She answered honestly. "At first you said you didn't realize it was love right?"
"Yeah." Ye Eun didn't want to stay on the topic of her brother long. "But how is it? Staying with Tae Kyung?"
"It's fine. I'm really happy with hyung-nim."
"When I first heard about you two being together was like 'how?' How did this sweet girl I know get together with that ice king? I thought you were an odd pair. But after I've seen the effect you've had on him and the way you talk about each other I realize how much you belong together." She held her hands. "So, if you believe in me, and I promise that I'll help you have the best wedding Korea has ever seen."
"That means so much; you're really a good friend."
A pang of guilt went through Ye Eun. Good friend? What good friend keeps a secret from her friend "I want to thank you for being so understanding, Mi Nyu."
"I don't remember seeing a time where my brother was happier than with you." Mi Nyu had sensed something troubling her. "And I know you must feel really bad about hurting Oppa. So I want to hear your side of the story. After all, relationships are two sided. I can't agree with how you ended things, but I'm sure your reason was well. You went to study abroad right? You were planning on becoming a pastry chef?"
"I never even went to study abroad, let alone made it through the semester. That was just a cover." She boldly admitted.
"Nothing in life is easy Ye Eun. You didn't have to leave because you felt ashamed for not being able to finish a semester of school. Baking is harder than it looks."
"That's not the reason why I left." It's nice Mi Nyu thinks so well of me.
"Then why did you leave? What was troubling you? Family matters?"
"This is going to be hard to explain to you but-"
Suddenly there was a thump.
Ye Eun's eyes almost popped out their sockets and she let go of Mi Nyu's hand.
"What was that?" Mi Nyu asked.
"That, oh…well…Excuse me I've got to go to the bathroom." She got up quickly; hoping to god her daughter hadn't fallen and hurt herself.
But it was too late. Min Jee had already come out of her room and was standing in front of her Mom and Mi Nyu at the kitchen table.
Min Jee yawned tiredly, rubbing her head. Yeah. She did it again. Ye Eun bit her fist. How can she be so clumsy?
Min Jee's eyes got wide as saucers realizing who Go Mi Nyu was. She waved. "Hi Auntie!"
"Omo! Hi! My name is Go Mi Nyu!" Go Mi Nyu waved back, excited to see the little child. "She's precious! Is Mrs. Cho your babysitter today?"
"Mi Nyu, I'm not her babysitter."
"Then who-" Mi Nyu looked from the child to Ye Eun and then back to the child.
Ye Eun couldn't look Mi Nyu in the eye. It's not like you can keep this a secret anymore. "This is my daughter, Cho Min Jee."
The sun was shining as all the members of A.N Jell sat outside, discussing their latest project.
While they were in President Ahn's office they all got handed scripts and were told they were going to be an in TV Drama that was going to start filming the upcoming month.
"I can't believe it." Mi Nam said, flipping through the script. "We're going to be in a TV drama!"
"I'm not sure if I should be excited or not." Tae Kyung moaned. It was the first time something like this had happened like this in his career. Sure, he had TV appearances and starred as guest host but never this.
"This is a great opportunity you guys!" Manager Ma threw his hands up. "Like President Ahn said 'It'll tie in perfectly with the mini-album! Jackpot!' You'll get to show off your acting skills."
"We get to try out for the parts right?" Mi Nam buzzed. "This is going to be awesome."
"Yeah! Later this week we meet with the director who's going to assign the parts." Manager Ma replied, leaning back into his chair.
"It's a love story or something?" Jeremy asked. "I love love stories!"
"'Fools in Love': the two of the main characters are high schoolers, or start off that way. The concept is centered around a theme of 'growing up and finding yourself' and 'falling in love along the way'. The script does sound interesting." Shin Woo eyed the script carefully. "It'll be an experience."
"How much you want to bet Mi Nam is going to be set as one of the high schoolers?" Tae Kyung said with a smirk.
"Why is my brother-in-law so mean to me?" Mi Nam pouted. "You've got to start treating me nicer or I'll tell on you."
"Like you would." Tae Kyung knew he was buffing. "Why are you even taking that to offense? It's a part of your 'appeal'."
Maybe it was, but Go Mi Nam still found it offensive. Instead coming back at his band mate, he kept to himself, glancing over at to the blonde boy he was sitting beside. Jeremy was intently involved with the lower half of his body.
"Jeremy?" Tae Kyung noticed it too.
"Yes, hyung?" Jeremy didn't even look up when he was addressed. Whatever what going on down there was pretty amusing.
"What are you doing down there? Did you just strike gold or something?"
"Huh?" He finally looked up. Everyone at the table was staring at him.
"If your script is on the table, what's going on down there that's making you grin like an idiot?" Tae Kyung motioned to his lap.
"His phone of course…" Mi Nam peaked over to see it. "Let's see then." He then grabbed his cell phone which was on an instant messaging site. He was talking to some girl in English called the xoxolover.
Mi Nam went through his phone, like he had every right.
"What are you doing? Gimme back my phone!" Jeremy griped. "Or I'm gonna-"
Mi Nam held him back with his palm on his forehead. With one hand he ended the chat and exited out the site completely. "He was talking to some girl on his phone. But she said she had to go and apologized for bothering him while he was working."
"Mi Nam! You had no right to do that! I haven't talked to her in forever!"
"Oh well."
Tae Kyung intercepted, not in the mood to bear witness to another quarrel. "Mi Nam, Jeremy, cut the crap." It was a good thing he did too, because neither wanted Shin Woo to snap again
"Ah, yes. So the script..." Jeremy started. "You said it's called 'Fools in Love' right?" He held his copy in his hand again. He flipped through the character pages. "Shin Woo hyung! This part is perfect for you! You can play the character Lee Jin Sang."
The handsome, cool and well-mannered, Lee Jin Sang teaches with compassion. He falls in love with a tomboyish yet beautiful Chinese exchange student named Chun Tao, who later develops feelings for her senior classmate Dong Min...
Was recommending that in bad taste? Mi Nam knew about the feelings Shin Woo had towards his sister. Did Jeremy recommend this role because he saw the handsome and cool? He can't be intentionally be being insensitive…
"From what I've heard, I expect the very best from you. Remember you their personal assistant. I trust that you will take care of them well." President Ahn spoke with passion.
"Yes sir! I will do my very best." Go Mi Nyu affirmed.
"That's what I like to hear!" President Ahn picked up a pen, handing it to Go Mi Nyu. "Here's a pen." In one swift moment, Mi Nyu signed the contract- giving her complete deja vu.
And it was over like that. In a heartbeat, Mi Nyu signed the contract that legally binded her to A.N Jell...again.
Go Mi Nyu walked through the building of A.N Entertainment, looking for her friends. They should be somewhere around here, right? She slowly stalked to the small practice room she knew too well, stirred in thought from today's previous events.
She debated with herself how and if she should be the one to tell her brother about Min Jee. He doesn't even know he has a child. It's going to be hard to accept. But he has to know. Ye Eun said she would be the one to tell him, but at the rate she was going Min Jee was probably going to graduate from high school before that happened. She couldn't believe how terrified she had been to tell him in the first place. Oppa might dislike children but there is no way he would dislike his own, right? Mi Nyu had shown compassion and understanding as she listened to Ye Eun explain herself. She said she was trying to protect Oppa's dream. But even his dream shouldn't come at the cost of depriving a child of a parent…
She finally hopped all the way to the small practice room where she saw her brother, Shin Woo and Jeremy.
She knocked on the glass. "Hi!" She waved. All of them stopped what they were doing and smiles spread onto their faces. Jeremy picked up a bag that was beside him before immediately running outside. "Mi Nyu! Yay!" Jeremy screamed, finally getting a chance to hug her without restrictions. His hug picked her off the ground.
Mi Nam and Tae Kyung came through the door. "Put my sister down!" Mi Nam peeled her away from Jeremy. "Oh, sis, did you bring any food?" He purred.
Tae Kyung rolled his eyes. "Really? Your sister comes to visit and all you ask is if she brought you food?"
"I'm hungry." Mi Nam shrugged.
"I signed my contract today!" Mi Nyu perked.
"Sometimes I forget that you're actually our 'personal assistant'." Tae Kyung said, snapping out of her thought process. She's treating this day special. I wonder what it is that's making her so excited to be officially working? Maybe getting to be with me all the time?
"Congratulations on your first official day of work! I got you a present!"
Jeremy held a small bag in front of her. "I got Ye Eun to give me one of her spare work outfits! Now you can wear this!" He took out a maid uniform out, pushing it into Mi Nyu's hands.
"Er…um, thank you?"
Mi Nam slapped Jeremy on the back of the head. "How dare you give my sister that uniform? She's not our maid! I'm not allowing her to wear that!"
"What?" Jeremy rubbed his head. "She may not be a maid but it'll still make her look really cute. Why can't she have the outfit?"
"It's okay. I'll wear it, oppa!"
"No!" Mi Nam couldn't believe how cool she was about it.
Meanwhile, the brain of Tae Kyung was imagining his beloved in this said maid outfit. "Hyung-nim," She shyly said with a spatula in her hand. "Would you like your eggs sunny side up or scrambled?" His brain felt hazy, like he'd just drunken an exceptional amount. Go Mi Nyu in a maid outfit. That's great.
"There's something wrong with hyung!" Jeremy screamed.
"You look tipsy." Mi Nam teased. "Do you have a secret flask somewhere on you, hyung?"
"What? Get a life." Denying that he felt funny would be a lie. "And there's nothing wrong with me."
"Your nose is bleeding." Mi Nyu innocently pointed out.
Tae Kyung felt his upper lip. There was blood. "Damn." He scowled under his breath, running to the nearest bathroom.
"What's wrong with him?" Jeremy said. "I've never seen hyung with a nose bleed before."
"Guess he's been over working himself again. Now, Mi Nyu-" Mi Nam looked to his sister- only, she was gone. "Where in the hell did that girl go?" There was an obvious answer to that question. She followed him.
"She followed Tae Kyung." Jeremy shrugged, now the one with the maid costume in his hand. "But isn't this outfit so cute?"
"If you're so excited about it why don't you wear it? Because you're not taking out any of your sick fantasies with my sister."
"How could you even think I'm like that? Don't you like to see girls dressed in pretty things? I mean, Ye Eun looks amazing in this." Jeremy realized he said that at the wrong time.
"Why did you invite her to the party?" He was sure Jeremy did it just to salt his wounds.
"It wasn't me." He denied.
"I find that a little hard to believe."
"But it wasn't. She came because I left something where she works. It's the truth."
Mi Nam changed the course of the conversation. "So, when did you find out about her daughter?"
Jeremy's heart could've jumped out his chest. "Daughter?"
"I'm not dumb, Jeremy. Why else would you suddenly ask me about children?"
Oh darn. Jeremy bit his lip. I suck at being indirect, don't I?
"So Ye Eun has a baby now. That's wonderful. I wonder how wonderful that guy is that she left me for. How happily she's living with the family of her dreams!"
"Living happily?" Jeremy simply stated. "How can you say that so causally? She's having a really hard time trying to raise yo-" Jeremy almost slipped up, but stopped himself. "her child. She works like three jobs and sometimes can hardly afford to pay her bills!"
"Why are you talking to me like it's my problem?" Mi Nam replied harshly with a 'that's-what-she-gets' tone. As long as he knew Ye Eun it seemed like a mess she would get into. "I have nothing to do with her or her daughter. As far as I'm concerned, we cut off all ties, and I want to keep it that way."
After leaving the room, Tae Kyung quickly ran into the bathroom to clean himself up. Never in his life had something like that happened to him before. It made him shiver and not with delight. It made his otherwise clean appearance get tainted instantly. This woman is going to drive me into the ground with her unbearable cuteness. The blood was coming out at an amazing rate and he decided to pinch his nose to stop it.
He heard the bathroom door swing open, revealing a distressed Mi Nyu.
"Why are you in here?" He tried not to yell, still pinching his nose.
"I am not allowed?" She came to his side.
"This is a male's bathroom!" She's not Mi Nam anymore. She can't casually come in male bathrooms.
"No it's not. It's a unisex one."
Tae Kyung scolded himself for coming into A.N Entertainment's only unisex bathroom. The nose that he thought had stopped it's bleeding, only continued. He felt embarrassed beyond belief, but didn't let it show on his face.
"I'll help you!" Mi Nyu hastily went into a stall, taking a whole roll off the dispenser.
"I'm not bleeding that badly. Put the roll back! I don't need it!" This was really code for 'Put it back, taking the whole roll out the dispenser is embarrassing and tacky!'
She ignored his words, quickly cleaning the new blood off his upper lip. Mi Nyu knew how much he hated things unsanitary like this. Mi Nyu threw that tissue away, before stuffing more clean tissue up his nose. "This should definitely stop the bleeding."
"Ah- Mi Nyu don't-" But he couldn't fight it.
"All done." Mi Nyu then giggled. "You'll sound like an alien with the tissue in your nose."
Tae Kyung rolled his eyes to the side. "Why does that sound like a compliment coming from you?"
There was a moment of silence before Tae Kyung asked, "Are you really going to wear that?" He couldn't say he would be disappointed if did.
"If you don't want me to I won't!" She pepped proudly. "You have a say in everything I do! Oh," She stopped. "Should I change what do I address you as?"
She had been calling him hyung-nim for the longest. "Mi Nyu, you don't have to keep calling me hyung-nim. You know, you can just call me…what other girls call their loved ones..."
"Honey?" That word coming from Mi Nyu sent the good shivers down his spine.
"Yeah, you can use that."
"Really? I can call you 'honey'?" That made her ecstatic.
"If it really pleases you that much. You can." He tried to make it sound like he didn't want her to. "But, only when we're alone."
"What do I call you when we're not alone?"
"My name like you have been. Let's keep it on a profession basis."
"Employees aren't supposed to sleep together." Mi Nyu was a special exception. "Should I move into my own room to keep it more professional?"
"Okay, only slightly professional basis. Don't even think about it. You're not going anywhere." Tae Kyung then realized that he was supposed to talk to President Ahn alone before he left. "Let's go." He suddenly grabbed her by the hand, leading her out the bathroom.
"Where are we going?"
"President Ahn."
"Aren't you going to take the tissue out first?"
He stopped, turning to her. "It's still in my nose, isn't it?"
"Yep! But I think the bleeding stopped!" She chirped. "I'll take them out-" She gently pulled one out, from a fidgeting Tae Kyung.
"You don't have to-" Oh forget it, Tae Kyung. Why are you even trying to fight it?
"There." She disposed of the last one in the nearest bin. "Now why are we going to see President Ahn? I just came from there." He continued to drag her along.
"I'm going to formerly introduce you as the woman I'm going to marry."
"Oh." She smiled lightly, holding onto his hand tightly.
Even though the thing I want to do the most is protect her, it's the one thing I can't do. I can't keep her safe from the press or paparazzi. They've already been nosing around trying to find out information about her. "You remember the rules I told you right?"
"Yes." She said. "1.) It will get harder for you to do ordinary things like you used to. Remember that. 2.) Paparazzi will take photos of you, be prepared. 3.) You might be asked to do interviews and if you want to, consult Hwang Tae Kyung first. 4.) Reporters will ask questions, be careful of the ones you answer because they could use them against you. Don't answer questions that make you feel uncomfortable. 5). Try to avoid questions that ask about the 'personal' relationship."
"Good, good." He doted. "You were really listening to me weren't you?"
"You said it was important! So I remembered."
He laughed. "You're going to do just fine, pig rabbit."
As long as Hwang Tae Kyung was by her side, she felt like she could conquer anything. So why not the press?