Jamais Vu

Chapter 6

"You've got a sugar daddy? Are you in trouble in any way?" Hoseok asked her as he drove through the traffic.

"No! No sugar daddy. No trouble. I wrote that down in humour," Sunhee hastily answered. "It's funny, haha," she added as Hoseok looked at her, telling her with his look that he was not buying it. "It is," she defended.

"Then why writing it as money source?"

"Do you know that it's not polite to talk about money with someone you haven't seen for a long time?" pointed Sunhee out. Her problem is hers. She's not the type to spill her problem to just anyone.

"I saw your business proposal in your bag. You went to a bank?" Hoseok prod again, not caring on her dig on manners.

"You're not going to stop asking, right?"

"Not going to. As a matter of fact, I don't think I'm going to drop you off until I get my answer," Hoseok said as he made a turn.

Sunhee turned to him in disbelief. "Since when did this become a hostage situation?"

"Just kidding. You don't have to tell me if you don't want to," Hoseok ceded as he continued driving in silence.

Sunhee was getting uncomfortable from the silence. It was not nice being at the receiving point of the silent treatment. "I was applying for a bank loan for the bakery and I got rejected," Sunhee started. "I was there to ask them to reconsider. I'm not telling you this because I'm expecting something from you. I'm telling you because you asked."

"And your plan for the loan would be..." Hoseok trailed off for Sunhee to continue.

"Lots of things. Bakery stuff, some wiring and plumbing works. Some upgrades, things like that," she supplied. "But it's fine really. With or without the loan we could just make do with what we have," she said optimistically.

"And this would be the first bank that turned you down," tested Hoseok.

Sunhee mumbled something that Hoseok couldn't hear.

"Didn't catch that," he said.

"I said sixth. This is our sixth."

"Do you have a partner at this bakery?" he asked.

"No, what makes you think that?"

"You kept on saying we. Makes me wonder if you have a partner in the operation."

"I'm the owner now. It was passed to me by the original owner for a small sum. Have some workers with me so that would be the collective 'we' comes from," Sunhee explained. She could never do everything on her own. The workers are like a family to her and she values each one of them.

"Are we heading to the bakery now?"

"Yes, we are," replied Sunhee.

"Can you bring me around for a tour?"

"Is that the wish that you want me to grant?"

"Not yet. Show me around," he said. "Please," he added for a good measure.

"Why? Aren't you supposed to be really busy now with work or something? Your group has gone global," Sunhee asked skeptically. She knew his band is the busiest around, flying in and out of South Korea, and sometimes being away for a long time for international concerts and shows. How much of a free time does he have for the day?

"I have some time. I could probably recommend your bakery to people around. That could boost up the sales."

"Well that's one of the problems we have," Sunhee sighed.