[ys] Head In The Clouds [3/6]
A/N: Yesssss this story is baaaack. (I'm trying to multi-task and obviously failing spectacularly at it.) Hope you all enjoy!
Chapter 1 here
Chapter 2 here
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Even from down the street, he sees it.
The windows are all lit up, indicating that there is someone still there and Jung Yong-hwa is willing to bet his money that it is Seo Joo-hyun.
When he reaches the stairs leading to the office however, he is surprised to bump into Tiffany, who is midway in wrapping her scarf around her neck. “Oh, Yong-hwa.” Tiffany greets him, obviously surprised for a brief moment, before her lips curve into a knowing smile. “Here to see Joo-hyun, aren’t you?”
“Is there any other reason why?” He deadpans, provoking a chuckle from Tiffany. “I’m surprised you’re still here though.” He glances quickly at his watch; it is now almost 9 at night, which is a pretty late hour for anyone to be knocking off. “Work already piling up?”
Tiffany dimples, giving him one of her famous eye-smiles that he’s already heard (and now experienced) for himself. “No, it’s not that. I just got caught up reviewing some of the potential social media campaigns we might want to run for the first series.”
“Good to know,” He murmurs. Tiffany is Joo-hyun’s newest hire to the company as their marketing manager, but already from what he’s seen of her, Tiffany might just turn out to the best person for the job. He mentally gives her bonus points for dedication and enthusiasm. “Joo-hyun still up there?”
Tiffany nods, sidestepping him onto the pavement and he mirrors her action, taking the first steps up to the office. She waves. “Don’t let her work too late!”
Yong-hwa nods, raising his hand in farewell, before ascending the steps. There is now a glass door, with the GG insignia (in pink, of course), to the side of the doors and as Yong-hwa pauses to enter the security code to let himself in, he marvels at how quickly the company has taken shape. Anyone who didn’t know better standing out here would assume that this was a real, established company, not some startup just gone 8 months old. He can’t even continue to take credit for it-not that he’d want to, really-especially since Joo-hyun has been running this place full-time herself for at least 2 months.
“Joo-hyun?” He calls out, striding across the carpet. The outer reception area is darkened, to indicate that they are closed, but Yong-hwa heads towards the inner office where he spies a light still on. “You there?”
There is no reply, but within a few more steps and a turn, Yong-hwa finds himself in the wide open space of the GG office, where Joo-hyun is perched at her desk, headphones in, frowning at her computer. She obviously has not heard him enter and so smiling ruefully to himself, he walks right up to her desk, watching as she starts, yanking the headphones from her ears. “You scared me!”
“You shouldn’t have been plugged in like that; anyone could just walk in.” Yong-hwa admonishes her gently but Joo-hyun pays no attention as she leans back in her chair, stretching. “For that matter, you shouldn’t be in this late.” He jerks his head. “Come on. Let’s get out of here.”
Joo-hyun shakes her head. “In a minute. I have a couple of emails I really need to get back to and I’ve to look over a couple of invoices too. Oh and read through the resume of that new girl I’m hiring as a designer.” She shakes her head, settling into her chair. “I’m afraid I’m not going to be able to leave any time soon. You go home first, okay?”
As if the topic is closed, Joo-hyun starts to pick up her headphones, but Yong-hwa is quicker, leaning over her desk to turn off the monitor. Joo-hyun’s reaction is instantaneous. “Jung Yong-hwa!”
“Seo Joo-hyun.” He returns calmly. “It is 10 pm at night. There will always be emails to answer and invoices to review and people to hire and designs to approve. You have been here more than 12 hours already. No one is a machine, not even you. So you get your butt out of that chair, before I march down to the police station around the block and get the nice officer there to frog march you back to your apartment on the pretext of overwork.”
Joo-hyun’s nostrils flare, but the puff of air that escapes her is more amused than annoyed. Yong-hwa’s got this round. “I’m pretty sure policemen don’t arrest people for overworking. They’d have a field day at Wall Street then.”
“Not this one.” Yong-hwa fibs ridiculously, but Joo-hyun is already smiling. “They owe me a favor, so if I tell them to pack you away, they will. So what’s it going to be, Miss Joo-hyun? Being marched home by me, or by the boys in blue?”
For a moment, Joo-hyun looks like she’s going to cave, going to stand and pack up and go home with him, but then she sighs, hand already reaching out for the monitor switch. “I can’t, Yong-hwa, I can’t. I really have to…”
His hand closes over hers before he can think about what it is he’s actually doing. In turn, Joo-hyun’s eyes turn to him, wide, startled but she doesn’t move her hand away from his.
On any normal day, he’d probably just let her get away with it. Give in, let her sit here for another hour or two, letting her churn out email after email until she’s finally deemed it satisfactory for the night, but not tonight. Yong-hwa can already see the signs of overwork taking its toll on her-dark eye circles, dry and bloodshot eyes. He even thinks she’s lost some weight in the past few months; her cheeks look almost hollow under the harsh fluorescent of the office. It is time to intervene.
“This isn’t going to disappear, Joo-hyun.” He says. His hand is still over hers, and he squeezes her hand, a sign of comfort. Yong-hwa isn’t exactly sure where he himself is going with this; he didn’t even know what he was going to say until the words popped out of his mouth, but perhaps these are his own genuine thoughts which have been circulating, growing beneath the surface of his teasing and geniality. He takes Joo-hyun in, obviously exhausted and still forcing herself to go on and his next words are easy. “You don’t have to be afraid that you’ll wake up and that all this was just a dream. You worked for it. Sacrificed your time, energy and sleep for it. It’s not going to go away.”
To break the somber mood, he tries for a grin, a joke. “Trust me. You’ll wish it was a dream, a year down the road and you’re struggling to pull yourself out of bed to come to work. Now get your butt out of that chair before I push you and the chair all the way home.”
There is something grateful and soft in Joo-hyun’s eyes; almost as if she is thanking him for piercing the heart of it, her fears and insecurities, which Seo Joo-hyun would rather die than say aloud. She concedes to his joking mood however, responding with one of her own. “Alright, alright. I actually wouldn’t mind that,” She says, referring to his offer of pushing her home in her office chair. “Would be quite a spectacle wouldn’t it?”
“The best kind of spectacle,” Yong-hwa concludes with a grin, because this is the Joo-hyun he likes to see-joking, cheerful, playing along with him. He would do more than push her down the street in an office chair to have her like that, of that much he’s sure. “Sure would be a sight to behold.”
----
And then, there are bad days. Like today, when The Enquirer decides to run an article online with the screaming headline, MALL MAGNATE SET TO MARRY BEAUTY QUEEN.
The first word out of Yong-hwa’s mouth when he reads the article is an expletive, that sends his secretary scurrying into the room to see what has happened to her usually mild-mannered boss.
He doesn’t text or call Joo-hyun though. What would he say? I’m sorry that your ex-husband is a jackass and getting remarried, and hey, while we’re on the idea of marriage, why don’t you marry me instead? That would be a great way of getting back at that son of a bitch. Also, it would possibly make me the happiest man in all New York.
Yeah, he definitely doesn’t text her.
He does stop by her office before his dinner date with the boys, because how can he not? How can he just pretend that everything is okay, when its obviously not? Already, when he leaves the office, he can hear the secretary and admin girls twittering about how Lee Jun-ki is getting married again, didn’t he just get divorced, did you see Yu Leea, that dress was so low-cut I couldn’t believe my eyes, did you hear, did you hear, did you hear.
If it’s already like that in his office, he dreads to think what exactly it’d be at the GG office.
The GG office is quiet and dark when he lets himself in, and for a minute, Yong-hwa thinks that she’s not here. That Joo-hyun has, miracle of miracles, gone home early, gone home to… cry? Be alone? But then, his eyes adjust and he makes out a slim figure standing alone in the dark, looking out the window. She is still, which makes Yong-hwa breathe an internal sigh of relief- she isn’t crying, at least. But when she turns to face him slowly, there is something so broken in her face that Yong-hwa almost wishes that she was crying.
They stand there for a moment in the dark, silently regarding each other, none of them wanting to address what is obviously the elephant in the room.
Joo-hyun shakes her head, obviously trying for some semblance of her old smile, but even that attempt breaks Yong-hwa’s heart. He wonders just before she speaks if she’s not going to bring it up, and true to form, Joo-hyun’s voice is cheerful when she speaks. “Yong-hwa. I was just leaving.”
He bites back the million things on the tip of his tongue. I’m sorry. Shall I beat the bastard up? Are you okay? “I guessed.” He says lamely. “Once a workaholic, always a workaholic.” But the joke in his words falls spectacularly flat for the first time, and the two of them know it. “So… you’re going home?”
Joo-hyun casts about her in the dark, as if looking to pick up her handbag or handphone, but her hands remain firmly glued to her sides. It occurs to Yong-hwa that for the first time, Seo Joo-hyun looks actually lost. It is not something he ever wants to see. “I don’t know.” She says finally. “I guess so. Have some dinner. Watch a movie. Review some designs. Get some sleep.” Her slim shoulders raise themselves in some gesture of despair and that is when Yong-hwa snaps.
“Come with me, Joo-hyun.”
Her eyes snap up to his, large, surprised, and Yong-hwa shakes his head. “You’re not going home. You’re coming out with me for dinner. Come on.”
He steps around her, picking up her handbag and phone from her desk even as she protests, just like he knows she will. “Yong-hwa. Isn’t this dinner with your friends? I don’t want to intrude.”
“Aren’t you my friend?” He counters smartly, heading out towards the main door. At her silence, he shakes his head. “I thought so. This dinner is for all my friends. So you are coming, Seo Joo-hyun.”
She demurs still, even though she trails behind him. “Yong-hwa. I’m serious. You don’t have to do this, okay?”
He stops at the door, turning back to look at her. There is a long beat of silence between the pair of them; she standing there in the dark, and he looking at her while poised halfway on the threshold of the office doors.
“Oh no, Seo Joo-hyun.” He says grimly after a moment. “I definitely have to. Now come along.”
It’s only when they’re a subway stop away from the meeting place - a hole in the wall place in downtown Brooklyn - that Yong-hwa stops to consider that his friends might be surprised to see him with Joo-hyun in tow. But still, he reasons with himself, this isn’t exactly a guys night. Min-hyuk, since he is in town, will definitely bring Krystal. So technically, Joo-hyun won’t be the only girl in the group.
The boys will, however, have their questions for him, but at least Joo-hyun’s presence will hold off those pointed questions temporarily. But right now, all Yong-hwa cares about is Joo-hyun.
He shoots her a rueful flash of a grin. “Not exactly your type of place, huh?” He gestures towards Howard’s, a Mexican place that he and the boys frequent, all crumbling brick walls which have grafitti sprayed over them. Outside, the streets are littered and the street lamp in front of the restaurant is flickering on and off. Not a place to bring socialites like Miss Seo Joo-hyun.
But for the first time tonight, Joo-hyun’s eyes are alight with a gentle curiosity and dare he say it, excitement, that makes Yong-hwa want to smile to himself, because now, Joo-hyun doesn’t look anything like the lost, broken woman he saw back there. “I’ve never been here before,” She confesses, pulling her coat a little tighter around her. Yong-hwa isn’t sure if that’s wistfulness he sees in her eyes. “I’ve never ventured this far into Brooklyn before.”
From anyone else, those words would sound spoilt, entitled even, but Yong-hwa marvels at how from Joo-hyun, that admission can sound almost sad and longing in one. He touches an involuntary hand to the small of her back lightly. “Well,” He says, leading her forward, one hand on the door handle. “It’s not much to look at, but trust me. We come here for two things; the food...”
He pushes the door open and a wave of noise hits the two of them like a flying brick, people talking, yelling, cutlery and dinnerware clinking and… over it all, the sudden warbling of a man’s voice as he struggles to reach the high notes, accentuated by good-natured laughter of the diners. Yong-hwa and Joo-hyun wince, as if on cue, together.
“I was going to say the music,” Yong-hwa shakes his head. “But hey, the night can only get better from here, no?”
And get better the night does.
There are a flurry of bows and handshakes all around when they arrive - Yong-hwa doesn’t miss the meaningful and quizzical looks from the boys even as he introduces Joo-hyun as his friend, neighbour and budding CEO of a new fashion label, but for the most part, Joo-hyun seems happy, ensconced between himself and Krystal, Min-hyuk’s girlfriend of 2 years. Yong-hwa had worried that she might feel out of place, shy, or maybe even quiet and brooding over the day's news of her ex-husband's remarriage. But he watches over his burrito as Joo-hyun giggles easily with Krystal over some private joke, and he catches Min-hyuk’s smile from across the table. Meanwhile, onstage, Jong-hyun and Jung-shin seem hell bent on trying to outdo each other as they belt out Bon Jovi from onstage.
Krystal tugs on Joo-hyun’s hand. “Unnie, do you sing?”
Joo-hyun’s eyes dart straightaway to the stage, jumping back to him before focusing on Krystal again. “Um…”
Yong-hwa is about to wade in, save Joo-hyun and tell her that it’s okay if she doesn’t want to sing karaoke, when Joo-hyun’s next words surprise him. “I was in choir when I was younger… I haven’t sung in a while though.”
Krystal does her famous pout, the one no one can say no to, her hand tightening on Joo-hyun’s. “You have to sing with me! Please,” She says sweetly, “Just one song?”
Joo-hyun looks back warily at him now, but Yong-hwa only smiles, leaning back into the booth. She dug herself into this grave and to be honest, Yong-hwa is curious about what she sounds like when she sings. “You obviously can carry a tune.” He tells her, referring to her supposed years in choir. She used to be a theatre major too. “Why not?”
“Yes, yes, why not!” Krystal has obviously run out of patience, practically dragging a startled Joo-hyun out of the booth and up to the stage. Joo-hyun barely has time to shoot a save me look at Yong-hwa who only grins back at her and giving her a quick fist pump of support. Meanwhile, Jong-hyun and Jung-shin return from their performance, flopping into the booth with exuberance, sweaty and high from their sing-off.
Joo-hyun and Krystal start singing, some pop-y hit by a random girl group, and Yong-hwa finds himself bopping along absently to the beat. Joo-hyun does have a good voice, he discovers even as he watches her duck her head shyly to the sudden applause from the diners seated closely to the stage. Just add that to the list of reasons as to why Seo Joo-hyun is Basically Perfect.
“Well,” Jong-hyun’s voice drags Yong-hwa back to reality, and he turns to look at his oldest and best friend, who is wearing a knowing smile so wide that Yong-hwa basically knows that he is fucked. “I was going to ask who this Seo-hyun person is to you, but from the look on your face, I think that answer’s pretty much self evident.”
Even in the dark, Yong-hwa can feel himself flush to the twin snickers of Min-hyuk and Jong-hyun, which he immediately tries to cover up. He’s 33, for crying out loud, not some middle schooler with a crush (even though Seo Joo-hyun pretty much makes him feel like one all the time). “It isn’t like that.” He defends himself weakly, turning away from the stage.
Jung-shin raises a skeptical eyebrow, taking his turn. “It isn’t? The stars in your eyes pretty much say otherwise, hyung.” Min-hyuk, while helpfully staying out of this interrogation, takes a sip of his drink to hide his smile.
“All right, all right.” Yong-hwa gives in. It’s probably pointless to deny the obvious, isn’t it? “But it’s not what you guys think.” He adds hastily. “She’s…”
Here, he tells his boys the full story, as best condensed as he can, because he doesn’t want to give away any more personal information than Joo-hyun would want him to give away. He tells them about her ex-husband now to be newly married, the new fashion label that they’re starting, and how he fits into this as the self-made CEO neighbour.
He watches as the boys take it all in, and Min-hyuk is the first person to say something, running a hand through his hair. “Wow, hyung.”
“Why?”
“When you go for it, you really go all in, don’t you?” Min-hyuk says wryly and Yong-hwa gets what he means. Helping a girl start up a business for the sake of wooing her - well, even Yong-hwa himself knows that he’s in a little over his head. But this isn’t only about wooing her and making her my girlfriend, he thinks soberly to himself, There’s so much more to this than meets the eye. But Yong-hwa isn’t about to voice that out, isn’t about to share his most secret thoughts about Joo-hyun in a place and setting like this, with Joo-hyun only a few feet away. He will tell the boys, soon. Just not here and now, and so he settles for giving Min-hyuk an equally rueful smile, which the youngest in their group accepts.
The maknae of their group looks back up at the stage where Krystal and Joo-hyun are finishing up. “She seems great though.”
Yong-hwa looks back at the stage now, where Joo-hyun is singing the last line of the song, smiling so widely, so brightly that his heart hurts just looking at her. This is how she should always look, he thinks sadly, happy, without a care in the world.
“She is.” He says softly, even as he slowly joins in the riotous clapping of the diners and Joo-hyun and Krystal curtesy onstage. “She is.”
Chapter 1 here
Chapter 2 here
+++
Even from down the street, he sees it.
The windows are all lit up, indicating that there is someone still there and Jung Yong-hwa is willing to bet his money that it is Seo Joo-hyun.
When he reaches the stairs leading to the office however, he is surprised to bump into Tiffany, who is midway in wrapping her scarf around her neck. “Oh, Yong-hwa.” Tiffany greets him, obviously surprised for a brief moment, before her lips curve into a knowing smile. “Here to see Joo-hyun, aren’t you?”
“Is there any other reason why?” He deadpans, provoking a chuckle from Tiffany. “I’m surprised you’re still here though.” He glances quickly at his watch; it is now almost 9 at night, which is a pretty late hour for anyone to be knocking off. “Work already piling up?”
Tiffany dimples, giving him one of her famous eye-smiles that he’s already heard (and now experienced) for himself. “No, it’s not that. I just got caught up reviewing some of the potential social media campaigns we might want to run for the first series.”
“Good to know,” He murmurs. Tiffany is Joo-hyun’s newest hire to the company as their marketing manager, but already from what he’s seen of her, Tiffany might just turn out to the best person for the job. He mentally gives her bonus points for dedication and enthusiasm. “Joo-hyun still up there?”
Tiffany nods, sidestepping him onto the pavement and he mirrors her action, taking the first steps up to the office. She waves. “Don’t let her work too late!”
Yong-hwa nods, raising his hand in farewell, before ascending the steps. There is now a glass door, with the GG insignia (in pink, of course), to the side of the doors and as Yong-hwa pauses to enter the security code to let himself in, he marvels at how quickly the company has taken shape. Anyone who didn’t know better standing out here would assume that this was a real, established company, not some startup just gone 8 months old. He can’t even continue to take credit for it-not that he’d want to, really-especially since Joo-hyun has been running this place full-time herself for at least 2 months.
“Joo-hyun?” He calls out, striding across the carpet. The outer reception area is darkened, to indicate that they are closed, but Yong-hwa heads towards the inner office where he spies a light still on. “You there?”
There is no reply, but within a few more steps and a turn, Yong-hwa finds himself in the wide open space of the GG office, where Joo-hyun is perched at her desk, headphones in, frowning at her computer. She obviously has not heard him enter and so smiling ruefully to himself, he walks right up to her desk, watching as she starts, yanking the headphones from her ears. “You scared me!”
“You shouldn’t have been plugged in like that; anyone could just walk in.” Yong-hwa admonishes her gently but Joo-hyun pays no attention as she leans back in her chair, stretching. “For that matter, you shouldn’t be in this late.” He jerks his head. “Come on. Let’s get out of here.”
Joo-hyun shakes her head. “In a minute. I have a couple of emails I really need to get back to and I’ve to look over a couple of invoices too. Oh and read through the resume of that new girl I’m hiring as a designer.” She shakes her head, settling into her chair. “I’m afraid I’m not going to be able to leave any time soon. You go home first, okay?”
As if the topic is closed, Joo-hyun starts to pick up her headphones, but Yong-hwa is quicker, leaning over her desk to turn off the monitor. Joo-hyun’s reaction is instantaneous. “Jung Yong-hwa!”
“Seo Joo-hyun.” He returns calmly. “It is 10 pm at night. There will always be emails to answer and invoices to review and people to hire and designs to approve. You have been here more than 12 hours already. No one is a machine, not even you. So you get your butt out of that chair, before I march down to the police station around the block and get the nice officer there to frog march you back to your apartment on the pretext of overwork.”
Joo-hyun’s nostrils flare, but the puff of air that escapes her is more amused than annoyed. Yong-hwa’s got this round. “I’m pretty sure policemen don’t arrest people for overworking. They’d have a field day at Wall Street then.”
“Not this one.” Yong-hwa fibs ridiculously, but Joo-hyun is already smiling. “They owe me a favor, so if I tell them to pack you away, they will. So what’s it going to be, Miss Joo-hyun? Being marched home by me, or by the boys in blue?”
For a moment, Joo-hyun looks like she’s going to cave, going to stand and pack up and go home with him, but then she sighs, hand already reaching out for the monitor switch. “I can’t, Yong-hwa, I can’t. I really have to…”
His hand closes over hers before he can think about what it is he’s actually doing. In turn, Joo-hyun’s eyes turn to him, wide, startled but she doesn’t move her hand away from his.
On any normal day, he’d probably just let her get away with it. Give in, let her sit here for another hour or two, letting her churn out email after email until she’s finally deemed it satisfactory for the night, but not tonight. Yong-hwa can already see the signs of overwork taking its toll on her-dark eye circles, dry and bloodshot eyes. He even thinks she’s lost some weight in the past few months; her cheeks look almost hollow under the harsh fluorescent of the office. It is time to intervene.
“This isn’t going to disappear, Joo-hyun.” He says. His hand is still over hers, and he squeezes her hand, a sign of comfort. Yong-hwa isn’t exactly sure where he himself is going with this; he didn’t even know what he was going to say until the words popped out of his mouth, but perhaps these are his own genuine thoughts which have been circulating, growing beneath the surface of his teasing and geniality. He takes Joo-hyun in, obviously exhausted and still forcing herself to go on and his next words are easy. “You don’t have to be afraid that you’ll wake up and that all this was just a dream. You worked for it. Sacrificed your time, energy and sleep for it. It’s not going to go away.”
To break the somber mood, he tries for a grin, a joke. “Trust me. You’ll wish it was a dream, a year down the road and you’re struggling to pull yourself out of bed to come to work. Now get your butt out of that chair before I push you and the chair all the way home.”
There is something grateful and soft in Joo-hyun’s eyes; almost as if she is thanking him for piercing the heart of it, her fears and insecurities, which Seo Joo-hyun would rather die than say aloud. She concedes to his joking mood however, responding with one of her own. “Alright, alright. I actually wouldn’t mind that,” She says, referring to his offer of pushing her home in her office chair. “Would be quite a spectacle wouldn’t it?”
“The best kind of spectacle,” Yong-hwa concludes with a grin, because this is the Joo-hyun he likes to see-joking, cheerful, playing along with him. He would do more than push her down the street in an office chair to have her like that, of that much he’s sure. “Sure would be a sight to behold.”
----
And then, there are bad days. Like today, when The Enquirer decides to run an article online with the screaming headline, MALL MAGNATE SET TO MARRY BEAUTY QUEEN.
The first word out of Yong-hwa’s mouth when he reads the article is an expletive, that sends his secretary scurrying into the room to see what has happened to her usually mild-mannered boss.
He doesn’t text or call Joo-hyun though. What would he say? I’m sorry that your ex-husband is a jackass and getting remarried, and hey, while we’re on the idea of marriage, why don’t you marry me instead? That would be a great way of getting back at that son of a bitch. Also, it would possibly make me the happiest man in all New York.
Yeah, he definitely doesn’t text her.
He does stop by her office before his dinner date with the boys, because how can he not? How can he just pretend that everything is okay, when its obviously not? Already, when he leaves the office, he can hear the secretary and admin girls twittering about how Lee Jun-ki is getting married again, didn’t he just get divorced, did you see Yu Leea, that dress was so low-cut I couldn’t believe my eyes, did you hear, did you hear, did you hear.
If it’s already like that in his office, he dreads to think what exactly it’d be at the GG office.
The GG office is quiet and dark when he lets himself in, and for a minute, Yong-hwa thinks that she’s not here. That Joo-hyun has, miracle of miracles, gone home early, gone home to… cry? Be alone? But then, his eyes adjust and he makes out a slim figure standing alone in the dark, looking out the window. She is still, which makes Yong-hwa breathe an internal sigh of relief- she isn’t crying, at least. But when she turns to face him slowly, there is something so broken in her face that Yong-hwa almost wishes that she was crying.
They stand there for a moment in the dark, silently regarding each other, none of them wanting to address what is obviously the elephant in the room.
Joo-hyun shakes her head, obviously trying for some semblance of her old smile, but even that attempt breaks Yong-hwa’s heart. He wonders just before she speaks if she’s not going to bring it up, and true to form, Joo-hyun’s voice is cheerful when she speaks. “Yong-hwa. I was just leaving.”
He bites back the million things on the tip of his tongue. I’m sorry. Shall I beat the bastard up? Are you okay? “I guessed.” He says lamely. “Once a workaholic, always a workaholic.” But the joke in his words falls spectacularly flat for the first time, and the two of them know it. “So… you’re going home?”
Joo-hyun casts about her in the dark, as if looking to pick up her handbag or handphone, but her hands remain firmly glued to her sides. It occurs to Yong-hwa that for the first time, Seo Joo-hyun looks actually lost. It is not something he ever wants to see. “I don’t know.” She says finally. “I guess so. Have some dinner. Watch a movie. Review some designs. Get some sleep.” Her slim shoulders raise themselves in some gesture of despair and that is when Yong-hwa snaps.
“Come with me, Joo-hyun.”
Her eyes snap up to his, large, surprised, and Yong-hwa shakes his head. “You’re not going home. You’re coming out with me for dinner. Come on.”
He steps around her, picking up her handbag and phone from her desk even as she protests, just like he knows she will. “Yong-hwa. Isn’t this dinner with your friends? I don’t want to intrude.”
“Aren’t you my friend?” He counters smartly, heading out towards the main door. At her silence, he shakes his head. “I thought so. This dinner is for all my friends. So you are coming, Seo Joo-hyun.”
She demurs still, even though she trails behind him. “Yong-hwa. I’m serious. You don’t have to do this, okay?”
He stops at the door, turning back to look at her. There is a long beat of silence between the pair of them; she standing there in the dark, and he looking at her while poised halfway on the threshold of the office doors.
“Oh no, Seo Joo-hyun.” He says grimly after a moment. “I definitely have to. Now come along.”
It’s only when they’re a subway stop away from the meeting place - a hole in the wall place in downtown Brooklyn - that Yong-hwa stops to consider that his friends might be surprised to see him with Joo-hyun in tow. But still, he reasons with himself, this isn’t exactly a guys night. Min-hyuk, since he is in town, will definitely bring Krystal. So technically, Joo-hyun won’t be the only girl in the group.
The boys will, however, have their questions for him, but at least Joo-hyun’s presence will hold off those pointed questions temporarily. But right now, all Yong-hwa cares about is Joo-hyun.
He shoots her a rueful flash of a grin. “Not exactly your type of place, huh?” He gestures towards Howard’s, a Mexican place that he and the boys frequent, all crumbling brick walls which have grafitti sprayed over them. Outside, the streets are littered and the street lamp in front of the restaurant is flickering on and off. Not a place to bring socialites like Miss Seo Joo-hyun.
But for the first time tonight, Joo-hyun’s eyes are alight with a gentle curiosity and dare he say it, excitement, that makes Yong-hwa want to smile to himself, because now, Joo-hyun doesn’t look anything like the lost, broken woman he saw back there. “I’ve never been here before,” She confesses, pulling her coat a little tighter around her. Yong-hwa isn’t sure if that’s wistfulness he sees in her eyes. “I’ve never ventured this far into Brooklyn before.”
From anyone else, those words would sound spoilt, entitled even, but Yong-hwa marvels at how from Joo-hyun, that admission can sound almost sad and longing in one. He touches an involuntary hand to the small of her back lightly. “Well,” He says, leading her forward, one hand on the door handle. “It’s not much to look at, but trust me. We come here for two things; the food...”
He pushes the door open and a wave of noise hits the two of them like a flying brick, people talking, yelling, cutlery and dinnerware clinking and… over it all, the sudden warbling of a man’s voice as he struggles to reach the high notes, accentuated by good-natured laughter of the diners. Yong-hwa and Joo-hyun wince, as if on cue, together.
“I was going to say the music,” Yong-hwa shakes his head. “But hey, the night can only get better from here, no?”
And get better the night does.
There are a flurry of bows and handshakes all around when they arrive - Yong-hwa doesn’t miss the meaningful and quizzical looks from the boys even as he introduces Joo-hyun as his friend, neighbour and budding CEO of a new fashion label, but for the most part, Joo-hyun seems happy, ensconced between himself and Krystal, Min-hyuk’s girlfriend of 2 years. Yong-hwa had worried that she might feel out of place, shy, or maybe even quiet and brooding over the day's news of her ex-husband's remarriage. But he watches over his burrito as Joo-hyun giggles easily with Krystal over some private joke, and he catches Min-hyuk’s smile from across the table. Meanwhile, onstage, Jong-hyun and Jung-shin seem hell bent on trying to outdo each other as they belt out Bon Jovi from onstage.
Krystal tugs on Joo-hyun’s hand. “Unnie, do you sing?”
Joo-hyun’s eyes dart straightaway to the stage, jumping back to him before focusing on Krystal again. “Um…”
Yong-hwa is about to wade in, save Joo-hyun and tell her that it’s okay if she doesn’t want to sing karaoke, when Joo-hyun’s next words surprise him. “I was in choir when I was younger… I haven’t sung in a while though.”
Krystal does her famous pout, the one no one can say no to, her hand tightening on Joo-hyun’s. “You have to sing with me! Please,” She says sweetly, “Just one song?”
Joo-hyun looks back warily at him now, but Yong-hwa only smiles, leaning back into the booth. She dug herself into this grave and to be honest, Yong-hwa is curious about what she sounds like when she sings. “You obviously can carry a tune.” He tells her, referring to her supposed years in choir. She used to be a theatre major too. “Why not?”
“Yes, yes, why not!” Krystal has obviously run out of patience, practically dragging a startled Joo-hyun out of the booth and up to the stage. Joo-hyun barely has time to shoot a save me look at Yong-hwa who only grins back at her and giving her a quick fist pump of support. Meanwhile, Jong-hyun and Jung-shin return from their performance, flopping into the booth with exuberance, sweaty and high from their sing-off.
Joo-hyun and Krystal start singing, some pop-y hit by a random girl group, and Yong-hwa finds himself bopping along absently to the beat. Joo-hyun does have a good voice, he discovers even as he watches her duck her head shyly to the sudden applause from the diners seated closely to the stage. Just add that to the list of reasons as to why Seo Joo-hyun is Basically Perfect.
“Well,” Jong-hyun’s voice drags Yong-hwa back to reality, and he turns to look at his oldest and best friend, who is wearing a knowing smile so wide that Yong-hwa basically knows that he is fucked. “I was going to ask who this Seo-hyun person is to you, but from the look on your face, I think that answer’s pretty much self evident.”
Even in the dark, Yong-hwa can feel himself flush to the twin snickers of Min-hyuk and Jong-hyun, which he immediately tries to cover up. He’s 33, for crying out loud, not some middle schooler with a crush (even though Seo Joo-hyun pretty much makes him feel like one all the time). “It isn’t like that.” He defends himself weakly, turning away from the stage.
Jung-shin raises a skeptical eyebrow, taking his turn. “It isn’t? The stars in your eyes pretty much say otherwise, hyung.” Min-hyuk, while helpfully staying out of this interrogation, takes a sip of his drink to hide his smile.
“All right, all right.” Yong-hwa gives in. It’s probably pointless to deny the obvious, isn’t it? “But it’s not what you guys think.” He adds hastily. “She’s…”
Here, he tells his boys the full story, as best condensed as he can, because he doesn’t want to give away any more personal information than Joo-hyun would want him to give away. He tells them about her ex-husband now to be newly married, the new fashion label that they’re starting, and how he fits into this as the self-made CEO neighbour.
He watches as the boys take it all in, and Min-hyuk is the first person to say something, running a hand through his hair. “Wow, hyung.”
“Why?”
“When you go for it, you really go all in, don’t you?” Min-hyuk says wryly and Yong-hwa gets what he means. Helping a girl start up a business for the sake of wooing her - well, even Yong-hwa himself knows that he’s in a little over his head. But this isn’t only about wooing her and making her my girlfriend, he thinks soberly to himself, There’s so much more to this than meets the eye. But Yong-hwa isn’t about to voice that out, isn’t about to share his most secret thoughts about Joo-hyun in a place and setting like this, with Joo-hyun only a few feet away. He will tell the boys, soon. Just not here and now, and so he settles for giving Min-hyuk an equally rueful smile, which the youngest in their group accepts.
The maknae of their group looks back up at the stage where Krystal and Joo-hyun are finishing up. “She seems great though.”
Yong-hwa looks back at the stage now, where Joo-hyun is singing the last line of the song, smiling so widely, so brightly that his heart hurts just looking at her. This is how she should always look, he thinks sadly, happy, without a care in the world.
“She is.” He says softly, even as he slowly joins in the riotous clapping of the diners and Joo-hyun and Krystal curtesy onstage. “She is.”