Chapter 12: PINA COLADA

Min-hee could feel the pit in her stomach churning deeper and broader as 8:00 pm started drawing near. She sat still on her late mother's favorite chair in the sitting room and tried paying attention to the local paper but her eyes kept darting to the old cuckoo clock that rested above the fireplace.

Her mind danced with so many made-up details she could come up with. She imagined how Ki Woong would dress. Maybe, he would go all-black like the first time they had met in the lake or he might decide not to change out of his afternoon clothes.

Min-hee scanned through the paper and wondered if the next week's edition will carry the news about Ki Woong being in Bukchon. At least by the following week, the dark lord's whereabouts must have become public knowledge.

She silently prayed that none of the stories printed about Ki Woong would involve herself.

Her shopping that day had included two gowns which weren't as expensive as she'd thought, and both of them were sleeveless with one scooped neck and the other, sweetheart. She also got skirts which were shorter than she was used to—one short silk asymmetrical skirt with a navy blue color, and the other, was a pink ruffled peplum skirt.

Min-hee chose to wear the gown with a sweetheart neck because it was a darker shade of blue and it seemed right as she didn't plan on dragging attention to herself or to be noticed by anyone.

She paired it with a HR cluster white gold earrings she inherited among other jewelries from her mother. It was a beautiful piece of jewelry which she had never worn before but it gave her outfit the much needed spark and fueled her with a little ounce of confidence.

Min-hee stood up and went back to her room to look at herself again in the mirror, pulling up the top of her dress to reduce how baring her cleavage were.

She delicately tapped her shiny hair that she had wrapped up in pretty braided patterns and secured it with a fancy silver pin which automatically gave her a bridal look.

Her lips were coated in a natural color matte lipstick which made her lips look plumper than usual and she preferred it more than the other pink ones she normally applied.

Min-hee picked up the mascara on her dressing table and reapplied it on her eyelashes, aiming for the tiny hairs above her corneas.

"What am I doing?" She asked herself as she looked wide-eyed to the mirror.

She never wanted to have dinner with Ki Woong in the first place, but here she was, dressing up to look good and worse, applying lipstick with the sole purpose of making her lips luscious.

Min-hee wanted to use a towel and clean her face. Or, run to her father's study and confess all that had transpired at the Aera Manor the previous day. But she didn't—she couldn't. She just stood in front of the mirror staring at herself, holding onto the mascara's brush and hearing her own heart beating the drum of uncertainties.

Where was the brave Min-hee this afternoon? Where had she creeped to?

She dropped the mascara on the table and leaned towards the mirror, trying to pull herself together. Because at some point, she had to sit face to face with Ki Woong and talk.

She would render her well-rehearsed apology for trespassing on his property, then they would accept a truce and erase the entire incident from their memories, or at least not talk about it again. And also, she would educate him that what he'd ascribed as 'gentle teasing' was completely intolerable. As those comments about an 'unexpected delight'.

And when she is done with sprouting out her innermost thoughts about their whole situation on the table and if she is feeling the way she is now, then he could go ahead and call an ambulance because she sure as hell would have a severe panic attack.

Sitting on the bed, she buckled her only decent pair of heels and they tingled. She picked up her purse and stashed in the remaining cash from her shopping expedition, just in case she needed to make a quick exit by taxi at some point. Which was one of the lessons she had learnt from her mother who was a strict believer in what is known as a 'get away cash'.

It was quite strange that Min-hee would even be thinking about escaping when there are millions of ladies all over the world that would give up anything to be in her shoes this evening.

"Rather they than me," she thought, pouting.

Min-hee heard the doorbell rang and instantly, the drums in her heart started their rhythmic utterances which nearly made her cry out.

"What am I doing? Oh God!" she said to herself with her right hand on her chest as she made her way into the hall. "I shouldn't have dressed so much. Maybe, a t-shirt and an old denim skirt was okay," she whispered breathlessly to herself.

She wished she could run back to her room and change into something basic. Something that would make him wish he'd never put her on the spot—never asked her, as well as ensuring that he wouldn't do it again.

Before she could reach the hallway door, her father was already ahead of her, making his way to the main door, smiling and saying she was quite ready.

"You look beautiful, daughter," Reverend Dae-hyun said lovingly to Min-hee.

Min-hee blushed with embarrassment as she maintained her gaze on the floor. "Thank you, papa," she responded with a little girly voice.

Her father opened the door and they were both surprised to see a different person entirely at the doorstep—an older man with gray hair and he wore a neat, dark suit.

The man noticed the confusion on both their faces and began to introduce himself. "A good evening to you Miss Jeon," he said in a memorized grand tone which sounded like royalty. "I'm Won-chul, Mr Woong's chauffeur. Can you be able to get to the car in those heels, or should I fetch the car up?"

"No." Min-hee's face relaxed. "I—I'm fine."

Her relaxed face disappeared immediately and she squeezed her eyebrows when she realized that she would be traveling to Grand Signeil alone. Just she and old Mr Won-chul, the chauffeur.

"Mr Woong had a lot of crucial matters that needed his attention," Won-chul informed her. "Meetings and loads of emails. Or he would have come for himself. He sends his apologies."

"Oh, that's all right," Min-hee muttered as she was helped into the big black limousine with tinted windows. In fact, she was intensely glad that she would be spared his company for a while.

As they journeyed, Won-chul would ask her from time to time if the car was too hot or cold. Whether or not she'd like to listen to the radio. And she would respond with a "no" and "I'm fine" .

Even with her response, she'd also wondered what he would do if she said that she'd really like to go home and that he should turn the car around.

But of course, she wasn't going to say that because this was her own mess, and it wouldn't be fair to involve Won-chul or anyone else.

"Just one evening. This evening and it will be all over," she said under her breath.

She thought that one evening was all she had to get through. Then, her duty was done and she could tell her father that there wasn't any tension between her and Ki Woong and as a matter of fact, she didn't dislike him and that she was just skeptical about a newcomer who was wealthy and famous. She would even add that tonight will never be repeated and as well, revisited.

Besides she had Geun, her boyfriend. Whom on normal circumstances she should have been with tonight.

Min-hee can't wait till they get their relationship out in the open. She was more eager than ever to be introduced to Madam Chae Ji-yeon and to everyone as Geun's girlfriend. And also for her and Geun to make some real plans for the future.

"Our future," she whispered, smiling sheepishly to herself.

As the limo smoothly ate away miles between the Jae-dong provinces of Bukchon Village and Grand Signeil, she remembered her first date with Geun.

She had her wardrobe upside down as she searched for one decent dress she possessed and hoping it still fits.

For some reasons, Min-hee thought Geun might have invited her out of pity because maybe he was aware she had a huge crush on him. Or because he was also aware that her social lifestyle was a zero seeing she had no time for that, based on her job at Yongsan Schools, plus the cooking and housework at the Vicarage and also helping out with the parish duties which left her too tired to go combing for friends.

All she could do was hope that Geun wasn't pitying her. But if he was, he did his best in hiding it.

Their first date was a place that came to be 'their place', Bar Pida, a small but beautiful restaurant in the nearby town just outskirt of Bukchon. They serve sizzling, spiced barbecue the way the Americans have theirs and sweet colorful drinks with tiny umbrellas on them.

Geun had ordered Piña Colada which had the flavors of coconuts and pineapple and tasted a little bit like rum. She remembered when he ordered three different drinks so that she could experiment with their taste and named the ingredients that she thought were used in preparing them.

Min-hee smiled to herself as she remembered dozing off into the night, repeating Piña Colada countless times.

From a distance, her eyes caught sight of the Grand Signeil building, a very tall skyscraper shaped like a biconvex lens. It looked so magnificent and her eyes glittered with admiration. The building looks more beautiful at night than in the day.

She sat up straight as the pit in her stomach deepened and her heart started its rhythmic drumming. Scolding herself for not finding one excuse—any excuse—to remain in the safety of her home away from there, eating kimchi and shredded chicken with her father and later reading a book or doing anything at all apart from being in that moving limo.

Min-hee hoped now than ever that she could actually see Ki Woong because if she had to wait for him then she would definitely tell Won-chul to drive her home and if he disagrees, then she would use her 'get away cash'.

Just as the car rounded the beautiful fountain at the roundabout, there she saw the familiar dark figure standing on the stone steps in front of the main entrance and instantly, she knew that there was no way out . . .