Still, Marry Me: 4 Girls Ha Min Jae Dated (2/5)
Title: 4 Girls Ha Min Jae Dated (1 He Dated Twice) (2/5)
Author: Vashti (tvashti)
Fandom: The Woman Who Still Wants To Marry
Character(s): Ha Min Jae, Purple Rain, OC, Kim Boo Ki
Rating: PG
Summary: While Lee Shin Young is on assignment, Ha Min Jae follows her advice and tries to move on...with mixed results
Length: this part 4,800 words
Disclaimer: I don't know you. You don't know me. Let's keep it that way.
Dedication: My Dramabeans OT family, particularly Ricky the Royal Highness who reminded me that I meant to post this here at some point. Now's as good a time as any ;)
Notes: Written to cover the interstitial time when Lee Shin Young has left to do international reporting in Finland, before she comes home and reunites with Ha Min Jae.
§§§
2. The girl who refused to call him "Oppa"
Smiling from the open doorway of the station's recording, Ha Min Jae spied on his bandmates and supervisor. They were completely engrossed by something at the sound board, but from the looks on their faces it had nothing to do with the show they were scoring. Min Jae was constantly teasing his bandmates before about being worse than a room full of ajhummas watching a drama, and now their sunbae was fair game, too. From where he was they would have to look up to see him and actually turn towards the door to see him. Only someone standing on the stage could see the double-doors clearly. He was wondering just how long he would be able to cash in on this moment when he finally stepped through the open door.
"Annyeong," he greeted them, grinning.
They looked up, matching expressions of surprise and guilt on their faces. Confused, Min Jae dropped his bag by the door and quickly joined them at the sound board.
They tossed a look between them, clearly not wanting to say--which only made it worse. Was it Lee Shin Young? Had something happened to her in Europe? He shook his head, discarding that idea. Their expressions hadn't been that serious, and they all knew how he felt about her. Then what?
His sunbae tried to hide the screen, but Min Jae was too fast.
It was a minipage. A familiar one.
Min Jae's eyes slid along the page to find the owner's picture. Oh Se Na? So they were on her mp. Did they think he'd feel bad that they were interested in what she was doing now that she'd left the concert tour? He had broken up with her. He was pretty sure that gave them the right to be angry with him, especially now that they had to scramble to find a new opener. Then his wandering eyes drifted over the characters for his name. He quickly skimmed the comment. Some girl was agreeing with an earlier comment that he was... Min Jae squinted and enlarged the text.
"A two-timing heartbreaking scoundrel who played with girls' hearts?" he read aloud. "What?"
"There's more," someone behind him said. "One of Oh Se Na's fans is promising to start an anti-fan cafe, and she mentions Lee Shin Young."
Min Jae whipped around to look at them. Only his sunbae and [bass player] would meet his eyes. Furious, he scrolled back through the comments until he found Oh Se Na's. It was more about him than Lee Shin Young ("...Ha Min Jae chases after everything and everyone, even ajhummas. He has no respect for his elders... You see how Reporter Lee left the country to be away from him") but he knows she wouldn't want to be mentioned this way. He also doesn't like the backhanded insult.
His sunbae puts an arm on his shoulder when he starts to stand. "What did you think would happen?"
"Not this!"
"Every celebrity faces some controversy. This isn't even so bad."
"Aitch! Not so bad?!" Ha Min Jae stares at the picture of Oh Se Na smiling for her minipage. "It's worse."
***
"Look, someone's by the door," Kyu Bok, their bass player, said. He gestured to the door with his chin. The other members of Purple Rain looked up or turned around to see who he was pointing at.
A tall girl with permed and teased hair was standing with her back to them, studying the wall as if she'd been waiting for a while. Baek Jin Sang, their keyboardist, grinned. "Ha Min Jae has one fan left, it seems."
The guys made teasing sounds. Rolling his eyes, Ha Min Jae carefully placed his guitar on the folding chair he'd been using and stood. He approached the girl. "Hey, you can't be here while we're rehearsing."
She turned, and his eyes widened. The girl was deeply brown-skinned. A fan was one thing, but he hadn't been expecting a foreigner. Min Jae mentally kicked himself. His English was okay, but he didn't have a chance to practice it often. Behind him, he heard the guys shuffling. Kyu Bok spoke English pretty well. Hopefully, that was him coming their way.
The girl gave him a brief bow. "Anyeong haseyo. I'm sorry," she said in lightly accented Korean. "I didn't mean to interrupt, but I needed to speak with the leader of Purple Rain, to Ha Min Jae." She spoke with an easy confidence. "Isn't that you?"
Silence and surprise filled the room.
"You're not Ha Min Jae? Maybe they told me the wrong room downstairs." She slipped a hand into the folds of her blue and beige wrap sweater. Scowling when she couldn't find it, she untied the sweater to check a pair of zippered pockets on the hem of her light blue t-shirt. When she started patting down her navy cargo pants Min Jae quickly turned to his bandmates for help. The guys shrugged. That she spoke Korean so well somehow made things more awkward, not less.
The girl produced a bright pink slip of paper. "Is this room 2112?"
"Ne."
"Then...are you Ha Min Jae?"
"Uh, ne."
She broke into a wide, sunny grin. "Sunbae! I've heard so much about you. My bandmates are big fans," she said in a relieved rush. "We're having a performance tonight and would really like it if you, all of you, would come to see us."
Min Jae frowned, shifting his weight into a less friendly stance. "Why would we do that?"
"Because we think it would be a good way to audition to be the new openers for your concert tour."
"Boh? What?" The guys put down their instruments with a clatter, rushing to join Min Jae and the brown-skinned girl. "Who does she think she is? We don't even know her name? What's this band?"
"Hey...hey guys!" Min Jae faced his bandmates. "Let's at least hear what she has to say." Then turning to the girl again, he said, "Who are you that we should come to see your band?"
Appearing not at all intimidated by the five pairs of eyes on her, she said, "I'm the lead singer in a girl-band called With Flowers In Her Hair, or just With Flowers--"
"Or Wiffer," one of the guys said.
Min Jae shot him a look but she chuckled. "Ne. Some people do call us that. So long as they come to see us and buy CDs, who cares, right?" There were general nods of agreement as she plunged on. "So my bandmates are fans and they think our sound could really work against yours if we open for Purple Rain. I personally wasn't familiar with your music until a couple of days ago when they played me a couple of songs, but now I agree."
"What kind of music do you play?" Min Jae asked.
"All sorts. We each have our personal preference, but we like a lot of genres so we'll play almost anything. Well...our bandleader doesn't like torch songs so we don't--"
"Wait, what...aren't you With Flowers' leader?"
She broke into another of those big grins. "Oh no! No, no, no. I just answered the ad for a band needing a singer. Our keyboard player, Song Jin Ah, is the leader."
"So why are you here?"
"Remember I said my mates were fans? They didn't want to risk embarrassing themselves. But I don’t know you well enough to be embarrassed so they sent me since instead. But don't tell them that I said that to you."
"You sound sure that we're going to see your show." Min Jae glanced back at his bandmates. "We haven't agreed to anything. You haven't even told us why we should see you."
Eyebrows raised, she said, "Aren't you curious to know who we are? Besides, it's a free ticket for everyone, plus 1."
"Each person plus 1," Kyu Bok asked, "or the whole band?"
"Each person." She rummaged around in her cargo pockets until she produced a postcard sized flier and a pen. On the front she circled the name of the venue and the time. Still looking down, she said, "Names?"
When no one responded she looked up. "Oh, come on. Please? This won't bind you to coming, but you would have to pay without it." Her eyes met and held each of theirs for a moment. "Please."
"Ha Min Jae."
"Komsamnida!" Grinning, she wrote the characters of his name with a confident hand.
"Kyu Bok."
She shot him a grateful look before writing his. Before long she had them all down on the back of the postcard with an added note. "Here, just give this to the ticket guy. You'll all have to come together, along with whatever plus 1s you're bringing, but otherwise you're all set. You're going to have a great time!"
Min Jae took the postcard-turned-pass. "So confident."
She shrugged. "Even if you hate it, the only cost will be the price of beer, right?" She took a step back and bow. "Annyonghi kyeshipshiyo! We'll be looking for you!"
Min Jae reached for her wrist but she moved too quickly, as if she were running late for something else. When he stuck his head out the door he saw her jogging down the hall. "Hey! What's your name?" he called after her.
She spun around. "It's on the front of the card!" Then she disappeared into a stairwell.
His bandmates crowded around. "Turn the card over." "What's her name?" "Do you think she's part Korean?" "You heard how good she sounded. She has to be part Korean.""It'll be on the card. Check the card."
Min Jae flipped the glossy postcard over and studied it. There were the characters for the band in large purple-pink font, and that first name had to be their leader, but she'd said that wasn't her, and there were only Korean names on the postcard.
Wait, what instrument did she play? "Was she vocals?"
"Everyone has vocals except the drummer," said Kyu Bok, looking over his shoulder, "and they all play an instrument, too." He shrugged. "She must be part Korean then. So are we going?"
Min Jae grinned. "Why not? We do still need an opening band."
***
"Why do I always lie lie lie
to protect myself?
Mother, it only works for someone else
The truth would be a better help to me
But that? Oh that can never be
"I'm so scared of saying the wrong things
Of being vulnerable and exposed
I don't dare tell you the heart-things
So I hide it where nobody knows
But it never helps"
It was only With Flowers' third song of the night and already the guys of Purple Rain had unanimously decided that they should join the concert. Kyu Bok and Baek Ji Sang had brought their girlfriends along, and the girls had been begging to have the girl-band join the concert from the first song. The crowd was pretty sparse, but very into With Flowers. Only a few people sang along--the girl group's tiny fanbase, Min Jae supposed--but he was sure they had already made more. Their music definitely had an indie sound that still managed to feel very familiar. If he closed his eyes he could pretend their lead singer, the brown-skinned girl who had interrupted practice, was actually Korean herself. Maybe the guys were right in thinking she was part Korean.
"Komsamnida!" The girl bowed sharply, a grin cutting the mood of the song she'd been singing as she thanked the crowd. "One more song, and then we have to take a quick break, okay?"
"Ne!"
The drummer counted off a uptempo beat that had everyone tapping their feet and bopping their heads before the the girl started, a capella: "He saw a girl with flowers in her hair..."
"Yeah?" her bandmates answered, stomping their feet as the drummer kept the time.
"So what did he do?
“He took'em!
"Took'em?!"
"Took'em!"
"Took'em?!"
"Took'em!"
"TOOK'EM!!!!" With Flowers all shouted together, then launched into the song.
Min Jae found himself bouncing and grinning along with everyone else. The music was so infectious that it was a full minute before he realized that no one was singing. It was still incredibly fun. Everyone in the room was enjoying it, and for one raucous, giddy moment Min Jae completely forgot his troubles with Oh Se Na, that his mother was dating a man he despised, and that Lee Shin Young was on the other side of the world.
"When you see the boy with flowers from your hair..." the brown-skinned girl sang.
This time everyone joined in with a strong, "Yeah?!"
"What do you do?
"You take'em!"
"Take'em!" the crowd answered with the band.
"Take'em!"
"Take'em!"
"Take'em!"
"TAKE'EM!"
The song ended on a loud crash. Everyone was shouting for more, hyped up and bouncy from the uptempo tune. Even the girls from With Flowers were flushed and grinning, bowing to the excited crowd. The singer took the mike. "We'll be back in 5 minutes. Thank you! Komsamnida!"
Kyu Bok turned to Min Jae. "They're great. They would set the perfect vibe for our set. Look how they pull everyone in, even the ones who have never heard of them. Like us."
"Ne!" Min Jae said with a nod. "So we'll talk to them after the show. Everyone. No one has anything to do in the morning, right?"
***
Forty-five minutes later the boys from Purple Rain with their dates were sitting across the girls from With Flowers and their dates at a local restaurant that they all knew. As they had walked in, all but bristling with instrument cases and music sheets, Ha Min Jae heard one of the hostesses, who knew both groups, say "It's like an idol supergroup!"
Looking down the length of the pushed-together tables, he smiled and thought she wasn't too far off. They had already agreed that they should do the concerts together, and now they were just having fun. The girls had made everyone change seats so that they could all be together. It was obvious that they were plotting something from the way they kept giggling and cutting their eyes at the boys. "Hey! What's going on there? I don't like all this laughing," With Flowers leader's boyfriend, whose name Min Jae now knew was Justin Park, shouted down the table. The girls mostly ignored him, though a few stray paper napkins flew his way.
Min Jae ducked as one came at him. He bent to pick it up. "I'm not the one who protested!"
The American girl, whose name they now knew was Moon Min Ah, popped her head up. "That was probably mine, then. Sorry!"
"See that it doesn't happen again," he said, throwing it back in her direction. Surprised, she fumbled for it and lost, dropping it into her untouched soju. The table erupted in laughter.
Fishing it out, she sniffed dramatically. "I wasn't going to drink that anyway."
And that was how it went all night, long after they had finished eating, until someone mentioned an early class, then someone else said they had a part time job in the mornings, and a third person had to be up early to use one of the studios at school... They soon found themselves walking down the street, talking and joking loudly. Min Jae reveled in the magic of it. He didn't expect it would be like this every time the two bands got together, not anymore, but he fully lived in the moment. It didn't hurt that no one from With Flowers had tried to flirt with him, at least not seriously. It seemed that only the American was unattached. Their bass player was in the middle of an on-again/off-again relationship with her boyfriend. They were off at the moment but, from the expression on her bandmates faces, that was likely to change at any moment.
As they all walked to the train station and bus stop, Min Jae and his bandmates took the opportunity to question the American almost rudely, but she took it in stride. She answered most of their questions in Korean, needing translation only a few times. "That's because I did a lot of growing up in Korea," she said when one of them asked her about it. "My father is a diplomat. We lived here from the time I was 6 years old until I was 14. I went to school at the military base, but Mom and I spent as much time as we could out and about. And we used to volunteer at a clinic, so I had a lot of chances to practice!"
"But how did you get a Korean name if you're not Korean?" someone else asked her.
She shrugged. "How does a Korean living in America or England or Australia get an English name? The receptionist unnie at the clinic where we volunteered gave me and Omma Korean names. It was easier for the patients"
"Why use it now? You're not a little girl anymore?" "What's your American name?"
She shrugged. "I’m here for the entire school year. Longer if I can get good enough grades and a permanent student visa instead of just this study abroad thing. It seemed easier to use my Korean name. It's mine, too."
"So what's your American name?" Kyu Bok’s girlfriend asked Min Ah again.
"Thea Alston."
They all repeated it with mixed success.
Min Jae noticed that With Flowers largely ignored the conversation. Instead they took the chance to talk about how their gig had gone and work out a tentative plan for their next rehearsal.
The "super" group quickly shrunk to less than half its original size as they came to their bus or train stop and peeled off in twos and threes. Eventually only Min Jae, Moon Min Ah, Song Jin Ah and Justin Park were still walking. Then Jin Ah and Justin came to where he'd parked his car. Min Jae and Min Ah helped load the keyboard and the extra equipment that Jin Ah had brought into the trunk. "Do you want a ride?" Justin asked Min Ah.
She shook her head. "I'm actually going to my place for once, so I'm okay. Hopefully my roommates remember what I look like!"
He turned to Min Jae. "Sunbae, I can give you a ride to your car."
Min Jae shook his head. "You don't need to. It was good meeting you," he said, bowing. The girls hugged and bowed and said their goodbyes. Then it was just him and Min Ah on the street. "Which way are you going?"
"Mmm..." She twisted around on her feet. "I'm pretty sure that way."
"I'll walk you."
Grinning, she waved her hands far in front of her. "Omo...you don't have to."
Min Jae returned her grin with a smug smile. "But it seems you don't know where you are. What if you get lost and we have to cancel the concert because everyone has gone out searching for you?"
Min Ah laughed. "What if I get lost and it means that Jin Ah unnie has to sing the lead. That would be fantastic! Yes, I will go by myself. Goodbye!" And she made as if to go in a new direction.
Laughing loudly, Min Jae easily blocked her way. Min Ah grinned. "Really," she said, "I'm fine. I haven't been here at night before, and so everything looks different, but I know all the stores very well. I won't get turned around, although I will be more cautious."
"I still want to walk you," Min Jae said.
She shrugged and turned to go in the right direction. They had been walking in silence for only one block when Min Ah inhaled sharply and started bouncing on her feet. "Omo! Omo!"
"What's wrong?"
Instead of answering, Min Ah grabbed Min Jae's wrist and pulled him forward. Or she tried to. He had a foot and about 30 pounds on her. Though he stumbled forward once in surprise, there was no way she could move him.
"Come on!"
"Come where?" he asked.
"That cafe there. Unnie wants to try and get us a gig there. Oh! I see the owner!" Min Ah bounced and whined, pulling but getting no where.
Min Jae looked up and saw a familiar sight. "Boo Ki-ah!"
"You know her?"
"She's my girl--" He shook his head and pasted a fresh smile on his face. "My ex-girlfriend, that's her best friend."
"The leader of the group before us is friends with the cafe owner?"
Min Jae shook his head. "Anaeyo. My girlfriend who left the country for her job."
"The reporter! Ah, okay. Can we go inside now?" She grinned at his incredulous look. "You said you wanted to make sure I got to the bus safely. The route I'm taking goes through there." She pointed to Boo Ki’s restaurant with her free hand. "So can we go now?" She tugged on his wrist again.
He shook his head, but the smile he sported told the truth.
Kim Boo Ki looked up from the menu she was reviewing as the door opened. By the time Ha Min Jae and Moon Min Ah were all the way inside, she had come around the counter and was all smiles. "Ha Min Jae! Long time no see! I have seen Choi Sang Mi many times, but since Lee Shin Young left, so have you."
He shrugged, only somewhat abashed. This was his mother's place, really. And he knew that Boo Ki wouldn't be all that offended by his absence. Still he gave her a bow. "I'll try to do better."
She waved dismissively. "Nice if you do, okay if you don't. But it will be hard to update you on Shin Young if you never come around."
His face lit up. "Okay."
"So isn't it late, even for you?"
He nodded. "Mmm. We were on our way home from her band's gig and she wanted to stop in." Min Jae indicated Min Ah with a turn of his head.
Hand extended, Boo Ki stepped forward. "Hello, my name is Kim Boo Ki," she said in a nearly accentless English. "It's nice to meet you. Your name is...?"
Min Ah took the hand but responded in Korean, "I'm Moon Min Ah."
"Oh, you speak Korean so well. Are you studying abroad?" Boo Ki switched to Korean as well.
"Ne."
"Good. Work hard!"
"Ariso." Min Ah smiled.
Boo Ki turned her attention to Min Jae "So, what brings you and your..."
"Hoobae," Min Jae said. "With Flowers, that's her band, they wish to play at your restaurant."
Boo Ki's brows rose. "I don't usually have live music here, and yours isn't the kind of music my customers would come to listen to."
Min Jae looked down at Min Ah, agreement on face. She, too, was nodding. "We don't just play indie, Owner. Everyone in the band has very different tastes, and we play whatever. Jin Ah unnie really likes chill and jazz, and she thinks it would be the perfect sound for your restaurant."
"She's been here before?"
"Ne, with her boyfriend. She loved it very much and it is her dream to perform here, even as background music. She thinks it would give it a more sophisticated presence."
Boo Ki nodded. "Maybe. So what will you perform?"
"I--I don't know. The band makes suggestions, but Unnie is the leader. She decides."
"So you have nothing ready for right now?"
Min Ah gaped, her mouth opening and closing like a fish. "I didn't think-- I mean I was just asking whether we--"
"Of course she has something," Min Jae broke in before she could fumble more, though it was fascinating watching her very brown skin glow a definite red. He wanted to touch her cheek to see if it was also hot.
Min Ah's gaze swung up to catch his eyes. "Sunbae! It's just me here!" she hissed.
"What am I, bibimbap? I'm a trained classical musician."
She gaped again. "You are?"
Boo Ki chuckled. Smiling and shaking his head, Min Jae grabbed Min Ah's arm and steered them towards the nearest table and chairs. Boo Ki sat as they got themselves together. "What songs do you know," Min Jae asked her as he checked the strings of his guitar.
"Mmm, do you know 'God Bless the Child'?"
"Ne." And he began to play.
Min Ah let him play part of an introduction, as she would have done with her band, then launched into the song. They stumbled a little over the bridge, but it was negligible.
The staff and customers, who had been too far away to hear them talking, clapped when it was done. Min Ah hadn't been expecting that and colored again. Min Jae pulled her up to bow with him. Then he pulled her down again.
"You two sound good together, but…" The implication was clear in Boo Ki’s voice.
"I can vouch for them," Min Jae quickly said, his demeanor professional. "I have invited the With Flowers in Her Hair band to open for Purple Rain. Everyone in the band agreed."
Boo Ki turned to Min Ah. " 'With Flowers in Her Hair'? That's a lot of name."
"We usually go by just ‘With Flowers’, Owner," she said cautiously.
"Or Wiffer," Min Jae tossed in.
Min Ah snorted a laugh, cutting her eyes at him. Unlike the way she had approached Purple Rain with matter-of-fact confidence that was hard to deny, it was obvious that this opportunity made her giddy with excitement.
"Have you been here before?" Min Jae asked her suddenly.
She nodded. "Once briefly, with Justin oppa. He bought me a coffee. Owner," Min Ah, nodded in Boo Ki's direction, "was talking to someone at a table."
"Aaaah. Does Song Jin Ah know you have a crush on her boyfriend?"
Min Ah scoffed, turning serious. "As if. I'm here to dance, not make out."
"Dance?"
But Boo Ki interrupted their aside before Min Jae could ask her anything further. "I will still need to hear your entire group play, but I think this could be the newest place for fans to hear With Flowers In Her Hair."
Min Ah beamed, half rising in her chair to repeatedly bow in appreciation.
Joking somewhat, Min Jae scoffed and turned his head. "Purple Rain offers you a spot on our tour and all we got was soju."
Both women laughed. "Would sunbae like a coffee?" Min Ah asked.
"Nah. It will just keep me awake all night." He stood. "We should go," he said to Boo Ki. "I think we both have early days tomorrow."
Min Ah also rose to her feet, bowing several more times to Boo Ki as they left. Outside she scoffed. "So overprotective."
Eyebrow raised, Min Jae said, "You don't have an early class tomorrow?"
"No."
"Oh, I thought--"
"Early rehearsal." She stuck her tongue out at him before skipping off.
"How old are you again?" he called after her.
"Twenty, Korean."
Which meant she was probably 19 by the Western standard. Min Jae wondered why that made him feel old as he jogged to catch up with her.
He caught her by the wrist, only for her to quickly twist out of his grip. She frowned and jammed her hands in her pocket. “Don’t do that, Sunbae,” she said shooting a look at him.
“Stop playing around and I won’t have to.”
Min Ah huffed, but she made certain to keep pace with Min Jae’s brisk walk. As they approached the next bus stop, he slowed, waiting for her to choose one. Together they went to the end of the line as her bus pulled up to the stop. “Are you going to be okay?” Min Jae asked as the line began to move.
She nodded. “Thank you, Sunbae, for coming to see With Flowers perform, and for making it possible to speak to Owner Kim Boo Ki,” she said with notably less energy than she’d shown all day. “Please forgive me for being so childish.”
Smiling, he shrugged. “It’s okay. You’re sleep deprived”
“I’m sure that’s it,” she said, smiling in return. Then it was her turn to get on the bus. “Thank you again, Sunbae.”
“Still, ‘sunbae’?”
One foot on the bus, she turned back to look at Min Jae. “Huh?”
“After all of this, don’t you think you should call me ‘oppa’?”
The big bright smile that Min Jae had first known was back as she shook her head and got on the bus.
-Fin-
Author: Vashti (tvashti)
Fandom: The Woman Who Still Wants To Marry
Character(s): Ha Min Jae, Purple Rain, OC, Kim Boo Ki
Rating: PG
Summary: While Lee Shin Young is on assignment, Ha Min Jae follows her advice and tries to move on...with mixed results
Length: this part 4,800 words
Disclaimer: I don't know you. You don't know me. Let's keep it that way.
Dedication: My Dramabeans OT family, particularly Ricky the Royal Highness who reminded me that I meant to post this here at some point. Now's as good a time as any ;)
Notes: Written to cover the interstitial time when Lee Shin Young has left to do international reporting in Finland, before she comes home and reunites with Ha Min Jae.
§§§
2. The girl who refused to call him "Oppa"
Smiling from the open doorway of the station's recording, Ha Min Jae spied on his bandmates and supervisor. They were completely engrossed by something at the sound board, but from the looks on their faces it had nothing to do with the show they were scoring. Min Jae was constantly teasing his bandmates before about being worse than a room full of ajhummas watching a drama, and now their sunbae was fair game, too. From where he was they would have to look up to see him and actually turn towards the door to see him. Only someone standing on the stage could see the double-doors clearly. He was wondering just how long he would be able to cash in on this moment when he finally stepped through the open door.
"Annyeong," he greeted them, grinning.
They looked up, matching expressions of surprise and guilt on their faces. Confused, Min Jae dropped his bag by the door and quickly joined them at the sound board.
They tossed a look between them, clearly not wanting to say--which only made it worse. Was it Lee Shin Young? Had something happened to her in Europe? He shook his head, discarding that idea. Their expressions hadn't been that serious, and they all knew how he felt about her. Then what?
His sunbae tried to hide the screen, but Min Jae was too fast.
It was a minipage. A familiar one.
Min Jae's eyes slid along the page to find the owner's picture. Oh Se Na? So they were on her mp. Did they think he'd feel bad that they were interested in what she was doing now that she'd left the concert tour? He had broken up with her. He was pretty sure that gave them the right to be angry with him, especially now that they had to scramble to find a new opener. Then his wandering eyes drifted over the characters for his name. He quickly skimmed the comment. Some girl was agreeing with an earlier comment that he was... Min Jae squinted and enlarged the text.
"A two-timing heartbreaking scoundrel who played with girls' hearts?" he read aloud. "What?"
"There's more," someone behind him said. "One of Oh Se Na's fans is promising to start an anti-fan cafe, and she mentions Lee Shin Young."
Min Jae whipped around to look at them. Only his sunbae and [bass player] would meet his eyes. Furious, he scrolled back through the comments until he found Oh Se Na's. It was more about him than Lee Shin Young ("...Ha Min Jae chases after everything and everyone, even ajhummas. He has no respect for his elders... You see how Reporter Lee left the country to be away from him") but he knows she wouldn't want to be mentioned this way. He also doesn't like the backhanded insult.
His sunbae puts an arm on his shoulder when he starts to stand. "What did you think would happen?"
"Not this!"
"Every celebrity faces some controversy. This isn't even so bad."
"Aitch! Not so bad?!" Ha Min Jae stares at the picture of Oh Se Na smiling for her minipage. "It's worse."
***
"Look, someone's by the door," Kyu Bok, their bass player, said. He gestured to the door with his chin. The other members of Purple Rain looked up or turned around to see who he was pointing at.
A tall girl with permed and teased hair was standing with her back to them, studying the wall as if she'd been waiting for a while. Baek Jin Sang, their keyboardist, grinned. "Ha Min Jae has one fan left, it seems."
The guys made teasing sounds. Rolling his eyes, Ha Min Jae carefully placed his guitar on the folding chair he'd been using and stood. He approached the girl. "Hey, you can't be here while we're rehearsing."
She turned, and his eyes widened. The girl was deeply brown-skinned. A fan was one thing, but he hadn't been expecting a foreigner. Min Jae mentally kicked himself. His English was okay, but he didn't have a chance to practice it often. Behind him, he heard the guys shuffling. Kyu Bok spoke English pretty well. Hopefully, that was him coming their way.
The girl gave him a brief bow. "Anyeong haseyo. I'm sorry," she said in lightly accented Korean. "I didn't mean to interrupt, but I needed to speak with the leader of Purple Rain, to Ha Min Jae." She spoke with an easy confidence. "Isn't that you?"
Silence and surprise filled the room.
"You're not Ha Min Jae? Maybe they told me the wrong room downstairs." She slipped a hand into the folds of her blue and beige wrap sweater. Scowling when she couldn't find it, she untied the sweater to check a pair of zippered pockets on the hem of her light blue t-shirt. When she started patting down her navy cargo pants Min Jae quickly turned to his bandmates for help. The guys shrugged. That she spoke Korean so well somehow made things more awkward, not less.
The girl produced a bright pink slip of paper. "Is this room 2112?"
"Ne."
"Then...are you Ha Min Jae?"
"Uh, ne."
She broke into a wide, sunny grin. "Sunbae! I've heard so much about you. My bandmates are big fans," she said in a relieved rush. "We're having a performance tonight and would really like it if you, all of you, would come to see us."
Min Jae frowned, shifting his weight into a less friendly stance. "Why would we do that?"
"Because we think it would be a good way to audition to be the new openers for your concert tour."
"Boh? What?" The guys put down their instruments with a clatter, rushing to join Min Jae and the brown-skinned girl. "Who does she think she is? We don't even know her name? What's this band?"
"Hey...hey guys!" Min Jae faced his bandmates. "Let's at least hear what she has to say." Then turning to the girl again, he said, "Who are you that we should come to see your band?"
Appearing not at all intimidated by the five pairs of eyes on her, she said, "I'm the lead singer in a girl-band called With Flowers In Her Hair, or just With Flowers--"
"Or Wiffer," one of the guys said.
Min Jae shot him a look but she chuckled. "Ne. Some people do call us that. So long as they come to see us and buy CDs, who cares, right?" There were general nods of agreement as she plunged on. "So my bandmates are fans and they think our sound could really work against yours if we open for Purple Rain. I personally wasn't familiar with your music until a couple of days ago when they played me a couple of songs, but now I agree."
"What kind of music do you play?" Min Jae asked.
"All sorts. We each have our personal preference, but we like a lot of genres so we'll play almost anything. Well...our bandleader doesn't like torch songs so we don't--"
"Wait, what...aren't you With Flowers' leader?"
She broke into another of those big grins. "Oh no! No, no, no. I just answered the ad for a band needing a singer. Our keyboard player, Song Jin Ah, is the leader."
"So why are you here?"
"Remember I said my mates were fans? They didn't want to risk embarrassing themselves. But I don’t know you well enough to be embarrassed so they sent me since instead. But don't tell them that I said that to you."
"You sound sure that we're going to see your show." Min Jae glanced back at his bandmates. "We haven't agreed to anything. You haven't even told us why we should see you."
Eyebrows raised, she said, "Aren't you curious to know who we are? Besides, it's a free ticket for everyone, plus 1."
"Each person plus 1," Kyu Bok asked, "or the whole band?"
"Each person." She rummaged around in her cargo pockets until she produced a postcard sized flier and a pen. On the front she circled the name of the venue and the time. Still looking down, she said, "Names?"
When no one responded she looked up. "Oh, come on. Please? This won't bind you to coming, but you would have to pay without it." Her eyes met and held each of theirs for a moment. "Please."
"Ha Min Jae."
"Komsamnida!" Grinning, she wrote the characters of his name with a confident hand.
"Kyu Bok."
She shot him a grateful look before writing his. Before long she had them all down on the back of the postcard with an added note. "Here, just give this to the ticket guy. You'll all have to come together, along with whatever plus 1s you're bringing, but otherwise you're all set. You're going to have a great time!"
Min Jae took the postcard-turned-pass. "So confident."
She shrugged. "Even if you hate it, the only cost will be the price of beer, right?" She took a step back and bow. "Annyonghi kyeshipshiyo! We'll be looking for you!"
Min Jae reached for her wrist but she moved too quickly, as if she were running late for something else. When he stuck his head out the door he saw her jogging down the hall. "Hey! What's your name?" he called after her.
She spun around. "It's on the front of the card!" Then she disappeared into a stairwell.
His bandmates crowded around. "Turn the card over." "What's her name?" "Do you think she's part Korean?" "You heard how good she sounded. She has to be part Korean.""It'll be on the card. Check the card."
Min Jae flipped the glossy postcard over and studied it. There were the characters for the band in large purple-pink font, and that first name had to be their leader, but she'd said that wasn't her, and there were only Korean names on the postcard.
Wait, what instrument did she play? "Was she vocals?"
"Everyone has vocals except the drummer," said Kyu Bok, looking over his shoulder, "and they all play an instrument, too." He shrugged. "She must be part Korean then. So are we going?"
Min Jae grinned. "Why not? We do still need an opening band."
***
"Why do I always lie lie lie
to protect myself?
Mother, it only works for someone else
The truth would be a better help to me
But that? Oh that can never be
"I'm so scared of saying the wrong things
Of being vulnerable and exposed
I don't dare tell you the heart-things
So I hide it where nobody knows
But it never helps"
It was only With Flowers' third song of the night and already the guys of Purple Rain had unanimously decided that they should join the concert. Kyu Bok and Baek Ji Sang had brought their girlfriends along, and the girls had been begging to have the girl-band join the concert from the first song. The crowd was pretty sparse, but very into With Flowers. Only a few people sang along--the girl group's tiny fanbase, Min Jae supposed--but he was sure they had already made more. Their music definitely had an indie sound that still managed to feel very familiar. If he closed his eyes he could pretend their lead singer, the brown-skinned girl who had interrupted practice, was actually Korean herself. Maybe the guys were right in thinking she was part Korean.
"Komsamnida!" The girl bowed sharply, a grin cutting the mood of the song she'd been singing as she thanked the crowd. "One more song, and then we have to take a quick break, okay?"
"Ne!"
The drummer counted off a uptempo beat that had everyone tapping their feet and bopping their heads before the the girl started, a capella: "He saw a girl with flowers in her hair..."
"Yeah?" her bandmates answered, stomping their feet as the drummer kept the time.
"So what did he do?
“He took'em!
"Took'em?!"
"Took'em!"
"Took'em?!"
"Took'em!"
"TOOK'EM!!!!" With Flowers all shouted together, then launched into the song.
Min Jae found himself bouncing and grinning along with everyone else. The music was so infectious that it was a full minute before he realized that no one was singing. It was still incredibly fun. Everyone in the room was enjoying it, and for one raucous, giddy moment Min Jae completely forgot his troubles with Oh Se Na, that his mother was dating a man he despised, and that Lee Shin Young was on the other side of the world.
"When you see the boy with flowers from your hair..." the brown-skinned girl sang.
This time everyone joined in with a strong, "Yeah?!"
"What do you do?
"You take'em!"
"Take'em!" the crowd answered with the band.
"Take'em!"
"Take'em!"
"Take'em!"
"TAKE'EM!"
The song ended on a loud crash. Everyone was shouting for more, hyped up and bouncy from the uptempo tune. Even the girls from With Flowers were flushed and grinning, bowing to the excited crowd. The singer took the mike. "We'll be back in 5 minutes. Thank you! Komsamnida!"
Kyu Bok turned to Min Jae. "They're great. They would set the perfect vibe for our set. Look how they pull everyone in, even the ones who have never heard of them. Like us."
"Ne!" Min Jae said with a nod. "So we'll talk to them after the show. Everyone. No one has anything to do in the morning, right?"
***
Forty-five minutes later the boys from Purple Rain with their dates were sitting across the girls from With Flowers and their dates at a local restaurant that they all knew. As they had walked in, all but bristling with instrument cases and music sheets, Ha Min Jae heard one of the hostesses, who knew both groups, say "It's like an idol supergroup!"
Looking down the length of the pushed-together tables, he smiled and thought she wasn't too far off. They had already agreed that they should do the concerts together, and now they were just having fun. The girls had made everyone change seats so that they could all be together. It was obvious that they were plotting something from the way they kept giggling and cutting their eyes at the boys. "Hey! What's going on there? I don't like all this laughing," With Flowers leader's boyfriend, whose name Min Jae now knew was Justin Park, shouted down the table. The girls mostly ignored him, though a few stray paper napkins flew his way.
Min Jae ducked as one came at him. He bent to pick it up. "I'm not the one who protested!"
The American girl, whose name they now knew was Moon Min Ah, popped her head up. "That was probably mine, then. Sorry!"
"See that it doesn't happen again," he said, throwing it back in her direction. Surprised, she fumbled for it and lost, dropping it into her untouched soju. The table erupted in laughter.
Fishing it out, she sniffed dramatically. "I wasn't going to drink that anyway."
And that was how it went all night, long after they had finished eating, until someone mentioned an early class, then someone else said they had a part time job in the mornings, and a third person had to be up early to use one of the studios at school... They soon found themselves walking down the street, talking and joking loudly. Min Jae reveled in the magic of it. He didn't expect it would be like this every time the two bands got together, not anymore, but he fully lived in the moment. It didn't hurt that no one from With Flowers had tried to flirt with him, at least not seriously. It seemed that only the American was unattached. Their bass player was in the middle of an on-again/off-again relationship with her boyfriend. They were off at the moment but, from the expression on her bandmates faces, that was likely to change at any moment.
As they all walked to the train station and bus stop, Min Jae and his bandmates took the opportunity to question the American almost rudely, but she took it in stride. She answered most of their questions in Korean, needing translation only a few times. "That's because I did a lot of growing up in Korea," she said when one of them asked her about it. "My father is a diplomat. We lived here from the time I was 6 years old until I was 14. I went to school at the military base, but Mom and I spent as much time as we could out and about. And we used to volunteer at a clinic, so I had a lot of chances to practice!"
"But how did you get a Korean name if you're not Korean?" someone else asked her.
She shrugged. "How does a Korean living in America or England or Australia get an English name? The receptionist unnie at the clinic where we volunteered gave me and Omma Korean names. It was easier for the patients"
"Why use it now? You're not a little girl anymore?" "What's your American name?"
She shrugged. "I’m here for the entire school year. Longer if I can get good enough grades and a permanent student visa instead of just this study abroad thing. It seemed easier to use my Korean name. It's mine, too."
"So what's your American name?" Kyu Bok’s girlfriend asked Min Ah again.
"Thea Alston."
They all repeated it with mixed success.
Min Jae noticed that With Flowers largely ignored the conversation. Instead they took the chance to talk about how their gig had gone and work out a tentative plan for their next rehearsal.
The "super" group quickly shrunk to less than half its original size as they came to their bus or train stop and peeled off in twos and threes. Eventually only Min Jae, Moon Min Ah, Song Jin Ah and Justin Park were still walking. Then Jin Ah and Justin came to where he'd parked his car. Min Jae and Min Ah helped load the keyboard and the extra equipment that Jin Ah had brought into the trunk. "Do you want a ride?" Justin asked Min Ah.
She shook her head. "I'm actually going to my place for once, so I'm okay. Hopefully my roommates remember what I look like!"
He turned to Min Jae. "Sunbae, I can give you a ride to your car."
Min Jae shook his head. "You don't need to. It was good meeting you," he said, bowing. The girls hugged and bowed and said their goodbyes. Then it was just him and Min Ah on the street. "Which way are you going?"
"Mmm..." She twisted around on her feet. "I'm pretty sure that way."
"I'll walk you."
Grinning, she waved her hands far in front of her. "Omo...you don't have to."
Min Jae returned her grin with a smug smile. "But it seems you don't know where you are. What if you get lost and we have to cancel the concert because everyone has gone out searching for you?"
Min Ah laughed. "What if I get lost and it means that Jin Ah unnie has to sing the lead. That would be fantastic! Yes, I will go by myself. Goodbye!" And she made as if to go in a new direction.
Laughing loudly, Min Jae easily blocked her way. Min Ah grinned. "Really," she said, "I'm fine. I haven't been here at night before, and so everything looks different, but I know all the stores very well. I won't get turned around, although I will be more cautious."
"I still want to walk you," Min Jae said.
She shrugged and turned to go in the right direction. They had been walking in silence for only one block when Min Ah inhaled sharply and started bouncing on her feet. "Omo! Omo!"
"What's wrong?"
Instead of answering, Min Ah grabbed Min Jae's wrist and pulled him forward. Or she tried to. He had a foot and about 30 pounds on her. Though he stumbled forward once in surprise, there was no way she could move him.
"Come on!"
"Come where?" he asked.
"That cafe there. Unnie wants to try and get us a gig there. Oh! I see the owner!" Min Ah bounced and whined, pulling but getting no where.
Min Jae looked up and saw a familiar sight. "Boo Ki-ah!"
"You know her?"
"She's my girl--" He shook his head and pasted a fresh smile on his face. "My ex-girlfriend, that's her best friend."
"The leader of the group before us is friends with the cafe owner?"
Min Jae shook his head. "Anaeyo. My girlfriend who left the country for her job."
"The reporter! Ah, okay. Can we go inside now?" She grinned at his incredulous look. "You said you wanted to make sure I got to the bus safely. The route I'm taking goes through there." She pointed to Boo Ki’s restaurant with her free hand. "So can we go now?" She tugged on his wrist again.
He shook his head, but the smile he sported told the truth.
Kim Boo Ki looked up from the menu she was reviewing as the door opened. By the time Ha Min Jae and Moon Min Ah were all the way inside, she had come around the counter and was all smiles. "Ha Min Jae! Long time no see! I have seen Choi Sang Mi many times, but since Lee Shin Young left, so have you."
He shrugged, only somewhat abashed. This was his mother's place, really. And he knew that Boo Ki wouldn't be all that offended by his absence. Still he gave her a bow. "I'll try to do better."
She waved dismissively. "Nice if you do, okay if you don't. But it will be hard to update you on Shin Young if you never come around."
His face lit up. "Okay."
"So isn't it late, even for you?"
He nodded. "Mmm. We were on our way home from her band's gig and she wanted to stop in." Min Jae indicated Min Ah with a turn of his head.
Hand extended, Boo Ki stepped forward. "Hello, my name is Kim Boo Ki," she said in a nearly accentless English. "It's nice to meet you. Your name is...?"
Min Ah took the hand but responded in Korean, "I'm Moon Min Ah."
"Oh, you speak Korean so well. Are you studying abroad?" Boo Ki switched to Korean as well.
"Ne."
"Good. Work hard!"
"Ariso." Min Ah smiled.
Boo Ki turned her attention to Min Jae "So, what brings you and your..."
"Hoobae," Min Jae said. "With Flowers, that's her band, they wish to play at your restaurant."
Boo Ki's brows rose. "I don't usually have live music here, and yours isn't the kind of music my customers would come to listen to."
Min Jae looked down at Min Ah, agreement on face. She, too, was nodding. "We don't just play indie, Owner. Everyone in the band has very different tastes, and we play whatever. Jin Ah unnie really likes chill and jazz, and she thinks it would be the perfect sound for your restaurant."
"She's been here before?"
"Ne, with her boyfriend. She loved it very much and it is her dream to perform here, even as background music. She thinks it would give it a more sophisticated presence."
Boo Ki nodded. "Maybe. So what will you perform?"
"I--I don't know. The band makes suggestions, but Unnie is the leader. She decides."
"So you have nothing ready for right now?"
Min Ah gaped, her mouth opening and closing like a fish. "I didn't think-- I mean I was just asking whether we--"
"Of course she has something," Min Jae broke in before she could fumble more, though it was fascinating watching her very brown skin glow a definite red. He wanted to touch her cheek to see if it was also hot.
Min Ah's gaze swung up to catch his eyes. "Sunbae! It's just me here!" she hissed.
"What am I, bibimbap? I'm a trained classical musician."
She gaped again. "You are?"
Boo Ki chuckled. Smiling and shaking his head, Min Jae grabbed Min Ah's arm and steered them towards the nearest table and chairs. Boo Ki sat as they got themselves together. "What songs do you know," Min Jae asked her as he checked the strings of his guitar.
"Mmm, do you know 'God Bless the Child'?"
"Ne." And he began to play.
Min Ah let him play part of an introduction, as she would have done with her band, then launched into the song. They stumbled a little over the bridge, but it was negligible.
The staff and customers, who had been too far away to hear them talking, clapped when it was done. Min Ah hadn't been expecting that and colored again. Min Jae pulled her up to bow with him. Then he pulled her down again.
"You two sound good together, but…" The implication was clear in Boo Ki’s voice.
"I can vouch for them," Min Jae quickly said, his demeanor professional. "I have invited the With Flowers in Her Hair band to open for Purple Rain. Everyone in the band agreed."
Boo Ki turned to Min Ah. " 'With Flowers in Her Hair'? That's a lot of name."
"We usually go by just ‘With Flowers’, Owner," she said cautiously.
"Or Wiffer," Min Jae tossed in.
Min Ah snorted a laugh, cutting her eyes at him. Unlike the way she had approached Purple Rain with matter-of-fact confidence that was hard to deny, it was obvious that this opportunity made her giddy with excitement.
"Have you been here before?" Min Jae asked her suddenly.
She nodded. "Once briefly, with Justin oppa. He bought me a coffee. Owner," Min Ah, nodded in Boo Ki's direction, "was talking to someone at a table."
"Aaaah. Does Song Jin Ah know you have a crush on her boyfriend?"
Min Ah scoffed, turning serious. "As if. I'm here to dance, not make out."
"Dance?"
But Boo Ki interrupted their aside before Min Jae could ask her anything further. "I will still need to hear your entire group play, but I think this could be the newest place for fans to hear With Flowers In Her Hair."
Min Ah beamed, half rising in her chair to repeatedly bow in appreciation.
Joking somewhat, Min Jae scoffed and turned his head. "Purple Rain offers you a spot on our tour and all we got was soju."
Both women laughed. "Would sunbae like a coffee?" Min Ah asked.
"Nah. It will just keep me awake all night." He stood. "We should go," he said to Boo Ki. "I think we both have early days tomorrow."
Min Ah also rose to her feet, bowing several more times to Boo Ki as they left. Outside she scoffed. "So overprotective."
Eyebrow raised, Min Jae said, "You don't have an early class tomorrow?"
"No."
"Oh, I thought--"
"Early rehearsal." She stuck her tongue out at him before skipping off.
"How old are you again?" he called after her.
"Twenty, Korean."
Which meant she was probably 19 by the Western standard. Min Jae wondered why that made him feel old as he jogged to catch up with her.
He caught her by the wrist, only for her to quickly twist out of his grip. She frowned and jammed her hands in her pocket. “Don’t do that, Sunbae,” she said shooting a look at him.
“Stop playing around and I won’t have to.”
Min Ah huffed, but she made certain to keep pace with Min Jae’s brisk walk. As they approached the next bus stop, he slowed, waiting for her to choose one. Together they went to the end of the line as her bus pulled up to the stop. “Are you going to be okay?” Min Jae asked as the line began to move.
She nodded. “Thank you, Sunbae, for coming to see With Flowers perform, and for making it possible to speak to Owner Kim Boo Ki,” she said with notably less energy than she’d shown all day. “Please forgive me for being so childish.”
Smiling, he shrugged. “It’s okay. You’re sleep deprived”
“I’m sure that’s it,” she said, smiling in return. Then it was her turn to get on the bus. “Thank you again, Sunbae.”
“Still, ‘sunbae’?”
One foot on the bus, she turned back to look at Min Jae. “Huh?”
“After all of this, don’t you think you should call me ‘oppa’?”
The big bright smile that Min Jae had first known was back as she shook her head and got on the bus.
-Fin-