Dinner with the Songs
Title: Dinner with the Songs
Pairing: Song Jae Rim/Kim So Eun
Genre: Romance
Rating: pg
Summary: Real life
She peers at the screen indicating who is at the door and she sighs. Her mother is outside yet again and she is reminded why she didn't give her mother the security code to the front door. In her hands, her mother is holding bags of what looks like food. There's no dodging. Her mother knows she's in the apartment so she walks to the front door and opens it up.
"Mom! I had no idea you were dropping by!" She says with as much enthusiasm as she can muster while her mother barges through.
"Where is he?" She asks, taking her shoes off while looking around the apartment for some sign of him.
"He's gone to work."
Her mom looks disappointed. "I brought over all his favorite banchan," she says, moving into the kitchen and placing the containers into the kimchi refrigerator. Her husband will be sure to enjoy the food his mother-in-law made especially for him, making Soeun feel like the world's worst wife. Even though Jaerim said he didn't care if she cooked or tended the house, she still feels like it's her wifely duty to manage the household, but instead, she was busy pursuing her career. In fact, it was a good time for both their careers, with projects lined up well into the next year and being that they had no children, they decided to just keep working while they still could and while their popularity was still high.
"I will let him know that his favorite mother-in-law brought over everything he likes."
"You two should come over for dinner one night. Or we can go out with So-mi and that artist boyfriend of hers. Oh, and Jaerim's family too," Soeun scrunches her nose. She is a bit of homebody since she and Jaerim got married, not really wanting to leave the house unless absolutely necessary. "Or we can come over..."
Her husband, the natural happy-go-lucky of the two, loves being around family and he would be disappointed if she didn't agree to a dinner. "Okay, let's go out. Eating at home with that many people might be difficult to manage."
"I don't know why you just don't hold it here, in this luxury apartment. I mean, look at this kitchen. It's massive and you barely even cook."
"Not true," she protests. "I cook. Oppa cooks more though."
"Unbelievable. Your dad won't even step into the kitchen unless he's foraging for leftovers and meanwhile, your husband cooks every night." It's true. Jaerim cooks and does dishes every meal. She totally lucked out when she married him.
"Okay, we'll have it here. I'll let Oppa know."
"Good. Okay, I'm off. I need to head into the store and bring your dad his lunch." Again, Soeun feels like an inferior wife. She should be making her husband lunch and bringing it onto set, but instead, she's at a home with the cats, hanging out.
"Okay, mom. We'll let you know when dinner is."
Her mom hugs her and is soon bustling out of the door, leaving her apartment quiet and serene. She retrieves her phone and texts her husband.
Mom came over. She wants us to host dinner one night.
She walks to the bedroom and hears her phone chirp, announcing the arrival of a text.
Great!! Tomorrow night? How's your schedule?
She wants to respond with "BUSY', but she knows she should put forth more of an effort. It's not that she doesn't love their families. It's just that she loves quiet so much more.
Wide open. I'll let them know. Shopping later?
Yup. Oh, and I'm inviting a couple of people from the set. Invite a couple of your friends too. Okay, gotta go. Love you.
Love you.
She smiles when she sends off her last text, but soon begins thinking this dinner party is ballooning into something bigger than she expected and suddenly she feels burdened. She texts two of her friends, including Son Ho-Jun, who has since become one of their closest friends. He has an ease about him that makes Jaerim's occasional awkwardness disappear. She also contacts Yoo In-Na, her longtime beauty friend, who she sends her regrets since she's out of the country. Ho-Jun says he'll be there and so she needs to find another person. She decides on Yura, who says she will stop by after promotions.
That done, she thinks about starting a menu, but scratches the idea because her husband will likely change everything up on her. She starts studying the script for her new drama and after throwing together a salad for dinner, it's time to go to bed. Because Jaerim is busy filming all night, she doesn't give it a second thought. Then again, she never does. The man does not have a wandering eye, so she has no reason to question his fidelity.
When she wakes up, he is passed out beside her, snoring softly and his arm draped over her torso. She leans over and kisses his cheek. He stirs and then pulls her close. Listening to his steady breathing makes her fall back asleep. The thought to feed the cats is but a distant memory as she cuddles close to her husband.
It's 10:00 when she wakes up again and he is already out of bed, so she crawls out of bed and finds him in the kitchen petting the cats as they eat their kibble on the counter.
"Why didn't you wake me up?" She asks groggily and a little bit irritated.
"You looked like you needed sleep, babe."
"When did you roll in last night?"
"About 4:00."
"Did you get enough sleep?"
"Yup. I need to go in for a few hours to tape my part of a scene. I'll be back by 1:00, then we can go shopping."
"Are you up for tonight?" She asks, hoping he might say no.
"I know what you're doing," he grins. "My anti-social wife is wanting to get out of being around people."
"Can you blame me for wanting to spend time with just my husband?" She asks cutely.
"Nice try. But you know we can spend time together after everyone leaves and we clean up, right?" He says, raising his eyebrows to show her he's up for anything.
"Wait, even after working, shopping, cooking, entertaining, and cleaning, you'll still be up for... You know?"
He laughs and pulls her in his arms. "I'm married to an ahjumma,"
She sulks and he kisses her sweetly on the lips. "So who did you invite tonight?"
"Huh?"
"You said you wanted to invite two people from the drama. I invited Ho-Jun and Yura."
He nods his approval. "Great! We haven't seen them in a while. I had a question to ask Ho-Jun, so I'm glad he's coming."
"So who?"
He shoots her a confused look. "Oh! Yeah. I'm inviting 2 actresses."
She purses her lips together, obviously thinking about the implications of his invites and what that would mean for the composition of the party. "Two women?"
"Yeah."
"Why didn't you tell me? I could've invited two guys to balance things out."
He shakes his head. "You're so mindful, jagi. Okay, I need to get going. Seung Joon will be here any minute" he says, kissing her again as he walks to the bedroom to gather his things. When he emerges, he kisses her again, "See you at 1:00. Love you."
"Not as much as I do," she says playfully.
"Doubtful," he says, opening the front door. "Bye!" And just like that, he's gone.
She is left alone in the house again and the silence is deafening. She turns on the stereo and decides to start cleaning the house. She can only imagine what her dear mother would say if she found a layer of dust on everything and if the glasses were full of spots. Thankfully, her in-laws love her, so she can bask in their adoration during the evening. She's gotten used to her family favoring Jaerim and only because her family has no sons, but their doting on him is almost nauseating to observe. Still, he deserves all the attention.
After a couple of hours, she's finally done. The house is so immaculate, not even her mother will have anything to complain about. She goes into the newly cleaned master bathroom, takes a shower, and gets ready. Like clockwork, Jaerim arrives home a little after 1:00. He kisses her as she puts on her make up and does her hair, and jumps straight into the shower.
"Do we have time?" He says slyly, his towel wrapped around his waist and his bare torso beckoning her to move closer, but she stays put, doing the finishing touches on her make up.
"Obviously not, Mr. Song," she says. "Guests will be here in a matter of hours and we haven't even shopped."
"Ahrasseo," he chuckles, moving to the closet.
"Have you thought about a menu?"
"We should just do bulgogi soup," he shouts from the closet. "All we'll have to do is buy everything, cut and prep, and let them do the work. Besides, it's getting cold these days."
"My mom brought banchan," she shouts back to him, but he emerges from the closet in a pair of jeans and a black t-shirt, her favorite outfit on him, which he knows. "Maybe we can put that out on the table."
"Wait, what? No," he whines cutely and she can't help but laugh.
"Why? You know she's going to bring more if you ask her."
"Still, those are for me," he says sheepishly. "I think we should definitely do salads and roasted vegetables. Rice, obviously. Maybe a few desserts."
"Should we stop by a bakery then?"
"Sure. We can pick up a few cakes." She grabs her purse and walks toward him, reaching up to fix his hair. "You sure we don't have 30 minutes?" He asks, through a mischievous grin.
"You're incorrigible. C'mon, let's go byuntae," she says, lacing her fingers with his and pulling him out of the bedroom.
They manage to swiftly and efficiently get all items, including 2 more table stoves, butane canisters, and flat pots for the bulgogi soup stations. When they arrive home, he manages to carry everything up to their apartment in one go, while Soeun trails behind with 3 cake boxes and bunches of pretty pink flowers. He immediately begins washing, cutting, and prepping all of the bulgogi soup ingredients in the pans, as well as prepping 3 different salads: caprese, sangchu-geotjeori, and japchae, and roasted seasonal vegetables.
"Jagi, can you cook the rice?" He asks, while she's assembling the platters of caprese salad.
"Sure, give me a few minutes and I'll get to it," she says, layering tomatoes and mozzarella, sprinkling thinly sliced basil as the final layer, then covering all plates tightly with plastic wrap before putting them into the refrigerator. She quickly mixes a bit of olive oil and basalmic vinegar for a drizzle right before serving and puts that in the refrigerator as well.
After cooking the rice, she goes back to mixing the dressing for the sangchu-geotjeori, while Jaerim opens the oven to roast a pan of vegetables drizzled with salt, pepper, and olive oil before people start showing up. When she's done, she goes to set the table, putting out their best flatware, dishes, and glassware and arranges the stoves evenly on the tables so people have access to pots no matter where they sit. She also makes sure the butane cans are near buy for easy refill, if needed.
Then she creates small flower arrangements for their community dining table and for flat surfaces around the house. She wished she could find peonies, because they're so pretty, but they're out of season, so she manages to still create beautiful chrysanthemum arrangements made up of pink and white blooms, using the vases she's received when Jaerim had flowers delivered to her. She goes to the study and retrieves a roll of robin egg-blue satin ribbon and white gossamer ribbon to tie around the vases, for a finishing touch.
She steps back to admire her work and then looks over at Jaerim. "Need anymore help?"
He looks up and smiles. "Everything looks great, jagi. Um, can you help me arrange the bulgogi pots?" She moves over without hesitation and starts arranging the ingredients inside the pots, also making them uniquely creative in presentation. When she's done, she takes the cakes out of the boxes and places them carefully onto flat plates and lays them out onto the counter.
"I'm going to get ready, Oppa," she says, moving toward the bathroom, but he catches her arm.
"Are you sure you're not enjoying this? You're doing a great job, so I find it hard to believe that you might be hating this domestic activity."
"It's fun," she says, kissing him on the lips before moving toward the bedroom. When she emerges freshly showered and made up, he's moving the roasted vegetables out of the oven and onto a trivet to cool down. The japchae is done and ready for the table. "Go and get ready," she tells him, his brow sweaty from working so hard.
"Jagi, can you transfer the vegetables onto platters while I get ready?"
"Will do."
He disappears into the bedroom and soon, she can hear the shower is running as she's evenly distributing vegetables onto more platters. He comes out wearing another pair of jeans and a black t-shirt and she smiles. Since they got married, she overhauled his personal wardrobe, giving him fewer opportunities to make bad fashion decisions. These days, people don't comment on how crazy his clothes are and it's mostly thanks to her. Besides, she couldn't bear having her husband walking around Seoul in weird sweaters and shirts anymore. He didn't seem to mind when she started packing up all his strange clothes. In fact, he almost seemed relieved to have her figure out his wardrobe, which was a good thing since she didn't know if it all might end in argument.
He moves to the couch as she's finishing up and putting the empty tray in the sink to wash it. Before she turns on the water, he calls out to her. "Jagi, come," he says, as he turns the stereo on softly in the background.
"But I need to wash the pan."
"I'll do it. Just come." She does as he asks and he pulls her by the hand to sit on his lap. Once she's comfortable, he wraps his arms around her waist and hugs her, his head against her chest. She rests her arms on his shoulders and pulls him close.
She looks at the extra large dining room table he had insisted on getting with tonight's place settings for 12 people, she sees its usefulness. Other than it serving as a makeshift office, the large community table is meant to convene people they love together and she's grateful that he doesn't mind entertaining and actually enjoys it.
"You know Ho-Jun is going to be the cock in the henhouse, right?" She asks, referring to the fact he'll be the only single male with 3 female celebrities to keep his attention.
"It's fine. Female attention is good for him."
"You know we'll never hear the end of it and then he'll only expect that he be the only male invitee to our parties, right?"
He chuckles. "It's fine."
Just then, the doorbell rings and she gets up and sees that it's their parents and sisters at the door, smiling and talking as they wait for the door to open. They both approach the door together and let them in. The apartment is soon brimming with chatter and as they walk into the space, the parents pause.
"Everything looks great," Jaerim's mom says.
"Soeun worked on the decorations," he grins, obviously proud of her work. She glances at her mom, who's surprised. She probably thought Jaerim did the decorations too.
She pops open a bottle of wine and opens up bottles of beer for the fathers, their alcohol of choice. Slowly, but surely, the rest of the guests arrive. First is Yura whose beautiful smile and infectious laughter brightens up the room. She quickly makes friends with their sisters. Ho-Jun is next to arrive, wine bottles in hand, and then cozies up to the mothers, who vow to fix him up with somebody. He blushes, but doesn't refuse the offer.
Soeun looks at the time and wonders where his two co-stars could be. It's getting late. At that same moment, the doorbell rings and Jaerim excuses himself from a conversation with the fathers. He returns and behind him are two very beautiful women, probably in their mid-to-late 20's and a hush falls over the room. Soeun doesn't know them, so they are obviously new to the industry.
"Everyone, here are a couple of my co-stars. Seo Hae-Jin and Park Ji-Woo." They bow and Soeun hears a whisper over her shoulder.
"Thank you. This is the best dinner party ever." She turns around and Ho-Jun is smiling so broadly, she wants to slap him.
"Calm down, idiot," she jokes and slaps him playfully, while Jaerim takes the lead to introduce them to their families.
"I've never been at a family dinner party with so many young, beautiful actresses," he says. "Yura is looking especially pretty too."
"Are you serious right now?" She asks, wondering what's come over him.
"It must be the lighting in this apartment. Everyone looks great. Even you, halmoni," he says, poking fun at her increasing introversion.
"It's not too late to uninvite you," she mocks.
"You wouldn't dare. Jaerim adores me." It's true and he knows it. Jaerim makes his way over with the two actresses and Ho-Jun stands up even straighter.
"Hae-Jin, Ji-Woo, this is Son Ho-Jun," they bow as they shake his hand and he winks at Jaerim and Soeun. She feels Jaerim's arm around her shoulders as he pulls her close. "And this is beautiful woman is my wife, Kim So Eun."
The girls bow low, "Sunbae-nim, it's an honor to meet you."
"Welcome to our home," she says. "Please have a good time."
Her husband disengages and gives them a few drinks while calling for people's attention. "Everyone, please make your way to the table." He and Soeun make their way into the open kitchen that allows them to keep an eye on the dining table, and they begin bringing everything out. First are the flat pots with the bulgogi soup, which they place on the stoves and light so the soup can get cooking. Next are the salads and Soeun remembers to drizzle the caprese with the olive oil and balsamic mixture and bring freshly ground pepper before Jaerim brings out the platters. Finally, she begins bringing out bowls of rice for everyone.
The mothers and Jaerim's sister are carefully tending to the soup pots in front of them, mixing them occasionally and adjusting the heat. When they arrive at the table to their seats, she's perturbed to find her usual seat beside Jaerim, occupied by one of the actresses whose name she had already forgotten, while the seat on the other side of him is the other actress. She looks around the table and sees Ho-Jun in an animated conversation with Yura and so she sits between Jaerim's sister and mother, who are excited to have her sit with them. They help to keep her mind off of what's happening with her husband.
"Where are the cats?" Jaerim's sister asks.
"They're in the bedroom, unnie."
"I should check in on them and say hello later." Soeun grins and nods. Jaerim's sister adores their cats, referring to herself as "Auntie" when she talks to them.
"The flowers are beautiful," Jaerim's mom says. "And everything looks great. You did well, Soeun." She loves her in-laws.
Jaerim's dad and her parents are talking about the latest current event, while her sister has joined in the animated conversation with Ho-Jun and Yura. She glances at her husband and the two actresses are cozying up to him. Normally, she wouldn't find what they're doing out of the ordinary, but it irritates her that it's happening in their own house. Sure, it's okay at professional events and appearances, but when the actor's wife is at the table, it's a different story. She sees red and suddenly feels like kicking them out, but she resists, turning her attention to the soup that gently simmering before her.
People begin digging into salads while the soup continues to cook and she can see that those two actresses are monopolizing her husband's attention, not engaging in conversations with anyone else at the table other than with him. He is oblivious, of course, but she is beginning to seethe in her seat, especially as she sees them casually touching his arm and leaning in close to him, so he might catch a glimpse of the top of their chests. They just give her another reason to hate entertaining people in their house.
"You know he loves you, right?" She hears, his sister leaning in to whisper at her.
"Huh?"
"He loves you. You have nothing to worry about. I see you watching what's happening over there, but you and I know that Oppa is oblivious to those kinds of things. He has no idea the effect he has on people and their reactions to him. As for those two actresses, they might think they have a shot with him, but they don't. Not at all. He is head over heels in love with you. He doesn't take commitment lightly and when he married you, he decided to stay true to only you. And as rude as it may seem that they're acting that way in a man's house as his wife watches it all, they will go home to their own homes. Alone." She looks at her sister-in-law and is amazed by what she just said. Her sister-in-law nods and pats her hand. "They want something they'll never have."
Suddenly Soeun feels better and although she glances at her husband throughout the evening, who winks back at her whenever their eyes meet, she dismisses her feelings of jealousy and finally gets to enjoying the evening. Ho-Jun draws people around him, including her, into a conversation about movies as people enjoy the food and drink to their hearts content.
Once eating begins to die down, Soeun enlists Somi and her sister-in-law to begin clearing the table. Jaerim moves to stand, but she lets him now with her hand to remain seated and that she's got everything under control. They carefully stack and pile the dishes and pots on the counter top, while Soeun removes the gas stoves and turns on the coffee pot. She cuts the cakes and Somi brings out dessert plates and forks to the table. When the cakes are done being prepped, Somi calls out, "Who would like coffee?" Eight hands shoot up. "How's about tea?" The other four people indicate they would like tea, so she goes back into the kitchen and also turns on the electronic water kettle and fishes around for tea bags. Her sister-in-law, brings out a tiny container of milk, sugar and creamer packets, and an assortment of tea bags, while Somi begins bringing out the coffee and hot water. Soeun brings the desserts to the table, and allowing guests to select their own.
The conversations continue on and she is paying careful attention to Ho-Jun and Yura, who have not stopped talking with each other since dinner started. It's a curious pairing, but at least they can have a good time talking about things related to their professions in entertainment.
The evening dies down and the first to leave are his parents and his sister, who they finally convinced to leave the dishes and the job of cleaning up and to go home since they were tired. Her parents and Somi are next to leave, hugging Jaerim and Soeun before taking their leave. The two actresses mention still feeling a bit tipsy and that they don't know if their company van will be coming back, but Ho-Jun jumps in for the rescue.
"I'm taking Yura home. I can drop you off too."
They look disappointed, no doubt hoping Jaerim might step in and offer to take them home, but he never does. "We can catch a taxi," they say, but Ho-Jun refuses to let them do that.
"Don't be silly. It's not a problem," he says, as they all gather their coats and make their way to the door. "Songs," he says, hugging Jaerim and Soeun, "Thank you for the amazing dinner party. When's the next one?"
"Soon," Jaerim says. "Maybe next time, we can maybe just kick back with some beer and watch soccer or something."
"Yeah, that might be best since the hermit," he says, pointing at Soeun, "is anti-gathering."
"Ho-Jun, I swear I'm going to punch you in the throat," she threatens and he guffaws out loud as Jaerim chuckles. Yura moves in to give Soeun a big hug.
"Thanks, unnie. You're the best."
Soeun pats her back in their embrace, "Watch out with that one. He's dangerous," and she sticks her tongue out at Ho-Jun.
He leaves with the three girls in tow and finally, the house is empty. She moves to the table and starts clearing the table for the last time, taking all remaining flatware, dishware, and glassware to the sink and runs the water, picking up the sponge to start washing everything. She assumes Jaerim has gone to the bathroom since he's so quiet, but when she looks up, he's leaning against the doorway, watching her.
"Are you going to just stand there and watch me or are you going to help?" She says with a twinkle in her eye.
He walks over to her and turns off the water. "Let's do the dishes tomorrow."
She shakes her head. "Nope. The last time this happened, this exact same thing, by the way, you were grumbling the next day."
"C'mon," he says, wrapping his arms around her torso, but she is resolute and turns the water back on.
"No. If we do this together, it will be done faster. Let's just wash everything and I can put everything away tomorrow morning."
He relents and in no time, they are done and he's picking her up in his arms and carrying her to the bedroom, turning off lights as they make their way.
He puts her down and starts undressing her. "I'm taking a shower," she announces, stepping out of her final articles of clothing and making her way to the shower.
"Need some company?" He asks, hopeful that she might say yes.
"Sure, why not?" She says, looking seductively at him over her shoulder. He strips down immediately and practically runs into the bathroom after her, the start of a long night for the two of them, pleasuring each other over and over again until they are on the verge of falling fast asleep in each other's arms.
"It seems we should invite young starlets to the house for dinner more often..." She says softly, alluding to the fact that what just happened between them might have had everything to do with him wanting to do to those two actresses what he just did to her. "They're beautiful."
"They are, but you're most beautiful. Besides, they're a good reminder to appreciate what is already mine." He hugs her close, their naked bodies pressed against each other beneath the covers. "Besides, they probably can't do what you do with your tongue that drives me crazy," he says, kissing her again and she laughs into their kiss.
"I'm sure they could, if you taught them," she teases.
"No, probably not, but just in case, you should make sure you solidify your position by doing that as often as you can, so I never forget."
"Right now?" She asks playfully, sliding down his body yet again and in no time, they are calling each other's names, their pleading and moans carried upon the ether.
When they settle in, sticky, sweaty, and exhausted, Soeun decides that she's not opposed to dinner parties anymore, especially if the evenings end like this everytime, so she considers maybe having another party next week. Or not. Maybe they should just skip the party and get to holing themselves up in the apartment, doing this all day. Yes, that sounds much better.
Pairing: Song Jae Rim/Kim So Eun
Genre: Romance
Rating: pg
Summary: Real life
She peers at the screen indicating who is at the door and she sighs. Her mother is outside yet again and she is reminded why she didn't give her mother the security code to the front door. In her hands, her mother is holding bags of what looks like food. There's no dodging. Her mother knows she's in the apartment so she walks to the front door and opens it up.
"Mom! I had no idea you were dropping by!" She says with as much enthusiasm as she can muster while her mother barges through.
"Where is he?" She asks, taking her shoes off while looking around the apartment for some sign of him.
"He's gone to work."
Her mom looks disappointed. "I brought over all his favorite banchan," she says, moving into the kitchen and placing the containers into the kimchi refrigerator. Her husband will be sure to enjoy the food his mother-in-law made especially for him, making Soeun feel like the world's worst wife. Even though Jaerim said he didn't care if she cooked or tended the house, she still feels like it's her wifely duty to manage the household, but instead, she was busy pursuing her career. In fact, it was a good time for both their careers, with projects lined up well into the next year and being that they had no children, they decided to just keep working while they still could and while their popularity was still high.
"I will let him know that his favorite mother-in-law brought over everything he likes."
"You two should come over for dinner one night. Or we can go out with So-mi and that artist boyfriend of hers. Oh, and Jaerim's family too," Soeun scrunches her nose. She is a bit of homebody since she and Jaerim got married, not really wanting to leave the house unless absolutely necessary. "Or we can come over..."
Her husband, the natural happy-go-lucky of the two, loves being around family and he would be disappointed if she didn't agree to a dinner. "Okay, let's go out. Eating at home with that many people might be difficult to manage."
"I don't know why you just don't hold it here, in this luxury apartment. I mean, look at this kitchen. It's massive and you barely even cook."
"Not true," she protests. "I cook. Oppa cooks more though."
"Unbelievable. Your dad won't even step into the kitchen unless he's foraging for leftovers and meanwhile, your husband cooks every night." It's true. Jaerim cooks and does dishes every meal. She totally lucked out when she married him.
"Okay, we'll have it here. I'll let Oppa know."
"Good. Okay, I'm off. I need to head into the store and bring your dad his lunch." Again, Soeun feels like an inferior wife. She should be making her husband lunch and bringing it onto set, but instead, she's at a home with the cats, hanging out.
"Okay, mom. We'll let you know when dinner is."
Her mom hugs her and is soon bustling out of the door, leaving her apartment quiet and serene. She retrieves her phone and texts her husband.
Mom came over. She wants us to host dinner one night.
She walks to the bedroom and hears her phone chirp, announcing the arrival of a text.
Great!! Tomorrow night? How's your schedule?
She wants to respond with "BUSY', but she knows she should put forth more of an effort. It's not that she doesn't love their families. It's just that she loves quiet so much more.
Wide open. I'll let them know. Shopping later?
Yup. Oh, and I'm inviting a couple of people from the set. Invite a couple of your friends too. Okay, gotta go. Love you.
Love you.
She smiles when she sends off her last text, but soon begins thinking this dinner party is ballooning into something bigger than she expected and suddenly she feels burdened. She texts two of her friends, including Son Ho-Jun, who has since become one of their closest friends. He has an ease about him that makes Jaerim's occasional awkwardness disappear. She also contacts Yoo In-Na, her longtime beauty friend, who she sends her regrets since she's out of the country. Ho-Jun says he'll be there and so she needs to find another person. She decides on Yura, who says she will stop by after promotions.
That done, she thinks about starting a menu, but scratches the idea because her husband will likely change everything up on her. She starts studying the script for her new drama and after throwing together a salad for dinner, it's time to go to bed. Because Jaerim is busy filming all night, she doesn't give it a second thought. Then again, she never does. The man does not have a wandering eye, so she has no reason to question his fidelity.
When she wakes up, he is passed out beside her, snoring softly and his arm draped over her torso. She leans over and kisses his cheek. He stirs and then pulls her close. Listening to his steady breathing makes her fall back asleep. The thought to feed the cats is but a distant memory as she cuddles close to her husband.
It's 10:00 when she wakes up again and he is already out of bed, so she crawls out of bed and finds him in the kitchen petting the cats as they eat their kibble on the counter.
"Why didn't you wake me up?" She asks groggily and a little bit irritated.
"You looked like you needed sleep, babe."
"When did you roll in last night?"
"About 4:00."
"Did you get enough sleep?"
"Yup. I need to go in for a few hours to tape my part of a scene. I'll be back by 1:00, then we can go shopping."
"Are you up for tonight?" She asks, hoping he might say no.
"I know what you're doing," he grins. "My anti-social wife is wanting to get out of being around people."
"Can you blame me for wanting to spend time with just my husband?" She asks cutely.
"Nice try. But you know we can spend time together after everyone leaves and we clean up, right?" He says, raising his eyebrows to show her he's up for anything.
"Wait, even after working, shopping, cooking, entertaining, and cleaning, you'll still be up for... You know?"
He laughs and pulls her in his arms. "I'm married to an ahjumma,"
She sulks and he kisses her sweetly on the lips. "So who did you invite tonight?"
"Huh?"
"You said you wanted to invite two people from the drama. I invited Ho-Jun and Yura."
He nods his approval. "Great! We haven't seen them in a while. I had a question to ask Ho-Jun, so I'm glad he's coming."
"So who?"
He shoots her a confused look. "Oh! Yeah. I'm inviting 2 actresses."
She purses her lips together, obviously thinking about the implications of his invites and what that would mean for the composition of the party. "Two women?"
"Yeah."
"Why didn't you tell me? I could've invited two guys to balance things out."
He shakes his head. "You're so mindful, jagi. Okay, I need to get going. Seung Joon will be here any minute" he says, kissing her again as he walks to the bedroom to gather his things. When he emerges, he kisses her again, "See you at 1:00. Love you."
"Not as much as I do," she says playfully.
"Doubtful," he says, opening the front door. "Bye!" And just like that, he's gone.
She is left alone in the house again and the silence is deafening. She turns on the stereo and decides to start cleaning the house. She can only imagine what her dear mother would say if she found a layer of dust on everything and if the glasses were full of spots. Thankfully, her in-laws love her, so she can bask in their adoration during the evening. She's gotten used to her family favoring Jaerim and only because her family has no sons, but their doting on him is almost nauseating to observe. Still, he deserves all the attention.
After a couple of hours, she's finally done. The house is so immaculate, not even her mother will have anything to complain about. She goes into the newly cleaned master bathroom, takes a shower, and gets ready. Like clockwork, Jaerim arrives home a little after 1:00. He kisses her as she puts on her make up and does her hair, and jumps straight into the shower.
"Do we have time?" He says slyly, his towel wrapped around his waist and his bare torso beckoning her to move closer, but she stays put, doing the finishing touches on her make up.
"Obviously not, Mr. Song," she says. "Guests will be here in a matter of hours and we haven't even shopped."
"Ahrasseo," he chuckles, moving to the closet.
"Have you thought about a menu?"
"We should just do bulgogi soup," he shouts from the closet. "All we'll have to do is buy everything, cut and prep, and let them do the work. Besides, it's getting cold these days."
"My mom brought banchan," she shouts back to him, but he emerges from the closet in a pair of jeans and a black t-shirt, her favorite outfit on him, which he knows. "Maybe we can put that out on the table."
"Wait, what? No," he whines cutely and she can't help but laugh.
"Why? You know she's going to bring more if you ask her."
"Still, those are for me," he says sheepishly. "I think we should definitely do salads and roasted vegetables. Rice, obviously. Maybe a few desserts."
"Should we stop by a bakery then?"
"Sure. We can pick up a few cakes." She grabs her purse and walks toward him, reaching up to fix his hair. "You sure we don't have 30 minutes?" He asks, through a mischievous grin.
"You're incorrigible. C'mon, let's go byuntae," she says, lacing her fingers with his and pulling him out of the bedroom.
They manage to swiftly and efficiently get all items, including 2 more table stoves, butane canisters, and flat pots for the bulgogi soup stations. When they arrive home, he manages to carry everything up to their apartment in one go, while Soeun trails behind with 3 cake boxes and bunches of pretty pink flowers. He immediately begins washing, cutting, and prepping all of the bulgogi soup ingredients in the pans, as well as prepping 3 different salads: caprese, sangchu-geotjeori, and japchae, and roasted seasonal vegetables.
"Jagi, can you cook the rice?" He asks, while she's assembling the platters of caprese salad.
"Sure, give me a few minutes and I'll get to it," she says, layering tomatoes and mozzarella, sprinkling thinly sliced basil as the final layer, then covering all plates tightly with plastic wrap before putting them into the refrigerator. She quickly mixes a bit of olive oil and basalmic vinegar for a drizzle right before serving and puts that in the refrigerator as well.
After cooking the rice, she goes back to mixing the dressing for the sangchu-geotjeori, while Jaerim opens the oven to roast a pan of vegetables drizzled with salt, pepper, and olive oil before people start showing up. When she's done, she goes to set the table, putting out their best flatware, dishes, and glassware and arranges the stoves evenly on the tables so people have access to pots no matter where they sit. She also makes sure the butane cans are near buy for easy refill, if needed.
Then she creates small flower arrangements for their community dining table and for flat surfaces around the house. She wished she could find peonies, because they're so pretty, but they're out of season, so she manages to still create beautiful chrysanthemum arrangements made up of pink and white blooms, using the vases she's received when Jaerim had flowers delivered to her. She goes to the study and retrieves a roll of robin egg-blue satin ribbon and white gossamer ribbon to tie around the vases, for a finishing touch.
She steps back to admire her work and then looks over at Jaerim. "Need anymore help?"
He looks up and smiles. "Everything looks great, jagi. Um, can you help me arrange the bulgogi pots?" She moves over without hesitation and starts arranging the ingredients inside the pots, also making them uniquely creative in presentation. When she's done, she takes the cakes out of the boxes and places them carefully onto flat plates and lays them out onto the counter.
"I'm going to get ready, Oppa," she says, moving toward the bathroom, but he catches her arm.
"Are you sure you're not enjoying this? You're doing a great job, so I find it hard to believe that you might be hating this domestic activity."
"It's fun," she says, kissing him on the lips before moving toward the bedroom. When she emerges freshly showered and made up, he's moving the roasted vegetables out of the oven and onto a trivet to cool down. The japchae is done and ready for the table. "Go and get ready," she tells him, his brow sweaty from working so hard.
"Jagi, can you transfer the vegetables onto platters while I get ready?"
"Will do."
He disappears into the bedroom and soon, she can hear the shower is running as she's evenly distributing vegetables onto more platters. He comes out wearing another pair of jeans and a black t-shirt and she smiles. Since they got married, she overhauled his personal wardrobe, giving him fewer opportunities to make bad fashion decisions. These days, people don't comment on how crazy his clothes are and it's mostly thanks to her. Besides, she couldn't bear having her husband walking around Seoul in weird sweaters and shirts anymore. He didn't seem to mind when she started packing up all his strange clothes. In fact, he almost seemed relieved to have her figure out his wardrobe, which was a good thing since she didn't know if it all might end in argument.
He moves to the couch as she's finishing up and putting the empty tray in the sink to wash it. Before she turns on the water, he calls out to her. "Jagi, come," he says, as he turns the stereo on softly in the background.
"But I need to wash the pan."
"I'll do it. Just come." She does as he asks and he pulls her by the hand to sit on his lap. Once she's comfortable, he wraps his arms around her waist and hugs her, his head against her chest. She rests her arms on his shoulders and pulls him close.
She looks at the extra large dining room table he had insisted on getting with tonight's place settings for 12 people, she sees its usefulness. Other than it serving as a makeshift office, the large community table is meant to convene people they love together and she's grateful that he doesn't mind entertaining and actually enjoys it.
"You know Ho-Jun is going to be the cock in the henhouse, right?" She asks, referring to the fact he'll be the only single male with 3 female celebrities to keep his attention.
"It's fine. Female attention is good for him."
"You know we'll never hear the end of it and then he'll only expect that he be the only male invitee to our parties, right?"
He chuckles. "It's fine."
Just then, the doorbell rings and she gets up and sees that it's their parents and sisters at the door, smiling and talking as they wait for the door to open. They both approach the door together and let them in. The apartment is soon brimming with chatter and as they walk into the space, the parents pause.
"Everything looks great," Jaerim's mom says.
"Soeun worked on the decorations," he grins, obviously proud of her work. She glances at her mom, who's surprised. She probably thought Jaerim did the decorations too.
She pops open a bottle of wine and opens up bottles of beer for the fathers, their alcohol of choice. Slowly, but surely, the rest of the guests arrive. First is Yura whose beautiful smile and infectious laughter brightens up the room. She quickly makes friends with their sisters. Ho-Jun is next to arrive, wine bottles in hand, and then cozies up to the mothers, who vow to fix him up with somebody. He blushes, but doesn't refuse the offer.
Soeun looks at the time and wonders where his two co-stars could be. It's getting late. At that same moment, the doorbell rings and Jaerim excuses himself from a conversation with the fathers. He returns and behind him are two very beautiful women, probably in their mid-to-late 20's and a hush falls over the room. Soeun doesn't know them, so they are obviously new to the industry.
"Everyone, here are a couple of my co-stars. Seo Hae-Jin and Park Ji-Woo." They bow and Soeun hears a whisper over her shoulder.
"Thank you. This is the best dinner party ever." She turns around and Ho-Jun is smiling so broadly, she wants to slap him.
"Calm down, idiot," she jokes and slaps him playfully, while Jaerim takes the lead to introduce them to their families.
"I've never been at a family dinner party with so many young, beautiful actresses," he says. "Yura is looking especially pretty too."
"Are you serious right now?" She asks, wondering what's come over him.
"It must be the lighting in this apartment. Everyone looks great. Even you, halmoni," he says, poking fun at her increasing introversion.
"It's not too late to uninvite you," she mocks.
"You wouldn't dare. Jaerim adores me." It's true and he knows it. Jaerim makes his way over with the two actresses and Ho-Jun stands up even straighter.
"Hae-Jin, Ji-Woo, this is Son Ho-Jun," they bow as they shake his hand and he winks at Jaerim and Soeun. She feels Jaerim's arm around her shoulders as he pulls her close. "And this is beautiful woman is my wife, Kim So Eun."
The girls bow low, "Sunbae-nim, it's an honor to meet you."
"Welcome to our home," she says. "Please have a good time."
Her husband disengages and gives them a few drinks while calling for people's attention. "Everyone, please make your way to the table." He and Soeun make their way into the open kitchen that allows them to keep an eye on the dining table, and they begin bringing everything out. First are the flat pots with the bulgogi soup, which they place on the stoves and light so the soup can get cooking. Next are the salads and Soeun remembers to drizzle the caprese with the olive oil and balsamic mixture and bring freshly ground pepper before Jaerim brings out the platters. Finally, she begins bringing out bowls of rice for everyone.
The mothers and Jaerim's sister are carefully tending to the soup pots in front of them, mixing them occasionally and adjusting the heat. When they arrive at the table to their seats, she's perturbed to find her usual seat beside Jaerim, occupied by one of the actresses whose name she had already forgotten, while the seat on the other side of him is the other actress. She looks around the table and sees Ho-Jun in an animated conversation with Yura and so she sits between Jaerim's sister and mother, who are excited to have her sit with them. They help to keep her mind off of what's happening with her husband.
"Where are the cats?" Jaerim's sister asks.
"They're in the bedroom, unnie."
"I should check in on them and say hello later." Soeun grins and nods. Jaerim's sister adores their cats, referring to herself as "Auntie" when she talks to them.
"The flowers are beautiful," Jaerim's mom says. "And everything looks great. You did well, Soeun." She loves her in-laws.
Jaerim's dad and her parents are talking about the latest current event, while her sister has joined in the animated conversation with Ho-Jun and Yura. She glances at her husband and the two actresses are cozying up to him. Normally, she wouldn't find what they're doing out of the ordinary, but it irritates her that it's happening in their own house. Sure, it's okay at professional events and appearances, but when the actor's wife is at the table, it's a different story. She sees red and suddenly feels like kicking them out, but she resists, turning her attention to the soup that gently simmering before her.
People begin digging into salads while the soup continues to cook and she can see that those two actresses are monopolizing her husband's attention, not engaging in conversations with anyone else at the table other than with him. He is oblivious, of course, but she is beginning to seethe in her seat, especially as she sees them casually touching his arm and leaning in close to him, so he might catch a glimpse of the top of their chests. They just give her another reason to hate entertaining people in their house.
"You know he loves you, right?" She hears, his sister leaning in to whisper at her.
"Huh?"
"He loves you. You have nothing to worry about. I see you watching what's happening over there, but you and I know that Oppa is oblivious to those kinds of things. He has no idea the effect he has on people and their reactions to him. As for those two actresses, they might think they have a shot with him, but they don't. Not at all. He is head over heels in love with you. He doesn't take commitment lightly and when he married you, he decided to stay true to only you. And as rude as it may seem that they're acting that way in a man's house as his wife watches it all, they will go home to their own homes. Alone." She looks at her sister-in-law and is amazed by what she just said. Her sister-in-law nods and pats her hand. "They want something they'll never have."
Suddenly Soeun feels better and although she glances at her husband throughout the evening, who winks back at her whenever their eyes meet, she dismisses her feelings of jealousy and finally gets to enjoying the evening. Ho-Jun draws people around him, including her, into a conversation about movies as people enjoy the food and drink to their hearts content.
Once eating begins to die down, Soeun enlists Somi and her sister-in-law to begin clearing the table. Jaerim moves to stand, but she lets him now with her hand to remain seated and that she's got everything under control. They carefully stack and pile the dishes and pots on the counter top, while Soeun removes the gas stoves and turns on the coffee pot. She cuts the cakes and Somi brings out dessert plates and forks to the table. When the cakes are done being prepped, Somi calls out, "Who would like coffee?" Eight hands shoot up. "How's about tea?" The other four people indicate they would like tea, so she goes back into the kitchen and also turns on the electronic water kettle and fishes around for tea bags. Her sister-in-law, brings out a tiny container of milk, sugar and creamer packets, and an assortment of tea bags, while Somi begins bringing out the coffee and hot water. Soeun brings the desserts to the table, and allowing guests to select their own.
The conversations continue on and she is paying careful attention to Ho-Jun and Yura, who have not stopped talking with each other since dinner started. It's a curious pairing, but at least they can have a good time talking about things related to their professions in entertainment.
The evening dies down and the first to leave are his parents and his sister, who they finally convinced to leave the dishes and the job of cleaning up and to go home since they were tired. Her parents and Somi are next to leave, hugging Jaerim and Soeun before taking their leave. The two actresses mention still feeling a bit tipsy and that they don't know if their company van will be coming back, but Ho-Jun jumps in for the rescue.
"I'm taking Yura home. I can drop you off too."
They look disappointed, no doubt hoping Jaerim might step in and offer to take them home, but he never does. "We can catch a taxi," they say, but Ho-Jun refuses to let them do that.
"Don't be silly. It's not a problem," he says, as they all gather their coats and make their way to the door. "Songs," he says, hugging Jaerim and Soeun, "Thank you for the amazing dinner party. When's the next one?"
"Soon," Jaerim says. "Maybe next time, we can maybe just kick back with some beer and watch soccer or something."
"Yeah, that might be best since the hermit," he says, pointing at Soeun, "is anti-gathering."
"Ho-Jun, I swear I'm going to punch you in the throat," she threatens and he guffaws out loud as Jaerim chuckles. Yura moves in to give Soeun a big hug.
"Thanks, unnie. You're the best."
Soeun pats her back in their embrace, "Watch out with that one. He's dangerous," and she sticks her tongue out at Ho-Jun.
He leaves with the three girls in tow and finally, the house is empty. She moves to the table and starts clearing the table for the last time, taking all remaining flatware, dishware, and glassware to the sink and runs the water, picking up the sponge to start washing everything. She assumes Jaerim has gone to the bathroom since he's so quiet, but when she looks up, he's leaning against the doorway, watching her.
"Are you going to just stand there and watch me or are you going to help?" She says with a twinkle in her eye.
He walks over to her and turns off the water. "Let's do the dishes tomorrow."
She shakes her head. "Nope. The last time this happened, this exact same thing, by the way, you were grumbling the next day."
"C'mon," he says, wrapping his arms around her torso, but she is resolute and turns the water back on.
"No. If we do this together, it will be done faster. Let's just wash everything and I can put everything away tomorrow morning."
He relents and in no time, they are done and he's picking her up in his arms and carrying her to the bedroom, turning off lights as they make their way.
He puts her down and starts undressing her. "I'm taking a shower," she announces, stepping out of her final articles of clothing and making her way to the shower.
"Need some company?" He asks, hopeful that she might say yes.
"Sure, why not?" She says, looking seductively at him over her shoulder. He strips down immediately and practically runs into the bathroom after her, the start of a long night for the two of them, pleasuring each other over and over again until they are on the verge of falling fast asleep in each other's arms.
"It seems we should invite young starlets to the house for dinner more often..." She says softly, alluding to the fact that what just happened between them might have had everything to do with him wanting to do to those two actresses what he just did to her. "They're beautiful."
"They are, but you're most beautiful. Besides, they're a good reminder to appreciate what is already mine." He hugs her close, their naked bodies pressed against each other beneath the covers. "Besides, they probably can't do what you do with your tongue that drives me crazy," he says, kissing her again and she laughs into their kiss.
"I'm sure they could, if you taught them," she teases.
"No, probably not, but just in case, you should make sure you solidify your position by doing that as often as you can, so I never forget."
"Right now?" She asks playfully, sliding down his body yet again and in no time, they are calling each other's names, their pleading and moans carried upon the ether.
When they settle in, sticky, sweaty, and exhausted, Soeun decides that she's not opposed to dinner parties anymore, especially if the evenings end like this everytime, so she considers maybe having another party next week. Or not. Maybe they should just skip the party and get to holing themselves up in the apartment, doing this all day. Yes, that sounds much better.