My Seoul Man

Chapter 16

I strolled into the spa room with two big terrycloth robes under my arm for us to burrow down into after we'd been slathered and soothed. You could smell all the oils and herbs and whatnot all over the boat—I was so ready to be petted and pampered.

And one of the two tall, willowy blonde "hired hands" looked up from folding a big, fluffy-looking towel and said, "Is there anything in particular they would like us to try or avoid?"

I paused...wondering if the "they" was a hella woke pronoun choice or what.

And before I had time to enquire, she set the towel on one of the massage tables and said, "We know her, but she's never brought a guest—are those for them, too? I can lay them out."

I was just waking up to what was happening when Hae-Won breezed in and said, "She's my guest, actually. So, I don't think we'll be needing anything else from you today. Except do be sure to tell Francois precisely how you lost one of his best clients."

Both blondes froze. Their ice blue eyes going through a series of very visible changes on the way from confused to "Oh shit, this bitch just fired us."

But Hae-Won gave me a pat on the back and said, "We'll soak in the hot tub while they pack up. Chef Paul left us huge trays of goodies in the galley, too."

I followed her not even feeling all that weird about what had just happened. I mean, I wish I had a dollar for every time somebody assumed I was "the help." Us POCs get used to it.

But when she got out to the deck, she hissed, "I'm sorry it just...it even happens to my mother."

And it was my turn to look confused. "Your mother?"

"She had a darker complexion than they like in Korea. So sometimes people would assume she worked for us. My father cheated on her for the same reason, actually--hungry?"

I laughed and said, "Hang on--finish that story first."

She sashayed over to...an elevator. Swear to God.

And as we stepped in, she said, "My grandfather defied the entire family to marry the woman he loved. She had dark skin, too. But she was sweet and bright and bubbly and gave him a beautiful daughter who was just like her. I'm sure that's why after my mother died he just left everything to me. Though...well..."

She pressed her melanin-deprived arm against mine to make that last point.

And I laughed as the doors opened onto the lower deck and a view that made me totally forget what we were talking about. We were docked in a cove somewhere on the coast of Cali. Surrounded by sapphire blue water so clear you could see all the freaky fishy things darting around in it.

The hot tub was at the "bow" end, with a canvas tent over it to keep us from frying in the bright sun. It was a nice day, though. Not too hot, sweet little breeze.

And she winked at me when I took my little caftan off and said, "I want those boobs when I upgrade from plastic to ass fat. Cancer survivor. Took my mom, though—one of the other things AJ and I have in common."

As we eased into another 'way too "smart" tub, I tried not to look as stunned as I was.

And she nonchalantly twisted all that gorgeous hair up into a very messy bun and said, "Don't tell AJ about the spa day thing, by the way. It will ruin what's left of your time together here--did he send you his new number?"

"I don't...think so."

"We got new phones after he met with that company man. They can transfer an eavesdropping app on your phone just by setting their own phone close to yours."

"They would do that?"

"AJ is the only reason the big man at the top is still there. And the new regime trying to kick him out needs AJ's reputation to build on. So, they have to find out if his recent behavior is really just about the suicide or if it's something they need to get ahead of."

"My...head is spinning right now."

She sat up, twinkled at me like a teenage girl and said, "Let's see what he's doing," as she leapt out of the tub and took off...God knows where. It was a rabbit warren, that boat.

And I felt like I'd fallen right down into a rabbit hole as I tried to make sense of the world I was suddenly immersed in. But then she came back with a laptop already on. And AJ was on the unusually large screen looking all adorable and laughing about something—comments, I think. I could see them scrolling...

But I was more curious about the other stuff she'd said. "So...tell me more about the business side of all this. If you can."

She eased into the tub after sliding a little canvas chair over to put the laptop on. "There's a political bloodbath going on at the company so all these other companies are circling like sharks. In fact, one band was wooed away by another company and another one lost its leader who's trying to start a company of his own now."

"He kinda told me about that part."

"Well, they were all sued for breach of contract, of course. And even if they win, no one will go near any of the idols who left, even if they sympathize. It's like they're some sort of virus that could spread through the entire—oh, my God! Bae-J! I love that!"

On the screen there were lots of "Love you, Bae-J" messages scrolling by. So I hadn't been as "clever" as I thought...

But I said, "So, it's just a cutthroat kinda scene, huh?"

"Oh, I'm actually grateful I didn't have the talent to do what AJ's done. And I constantly marvel at how he's managed to navigate through all the shit storms. I was always flailing around, trying to hide behind my pretty little face and perky little time bomb boobs. So I held onto him for dear life."

"So y'all exchanged sandwiches a few times, right?"

She sighed a little. "I'm a few years older than he is. And I knew I had a limited shelf life. So...well, all those beautiful bodies and so little time..."

The beautiful body I liked seemed really relaxed and sincere kicking back with his Angels.

So I asked her, "How often do they have to do this?"

"They do have rules about that, but AJ is absolutely dedicated to those kids. In fact, if the company would just let him have a little time off to recover from that awful mess, he'd continue to be loyal to them, too. For allowing him to make up for all the horrible bullshit his mother went through when she ran away from that psychopath. Many women would've just dutifully endured—the family expects that. But she wanted her son to have a better life even if she had to work herself to death to make that happen. So he almost worked himself to death to repay her for that."

"But she's gone, though—did I hear that right?"

She smiled and said, "He can't even talk about it. But I could tell he was very upset when your mother passed away, too."

"God, you really do know him well."

"He literally saved my life--I'll tell you about that sometime," she said. And then she gave me the most genuinely happy smile I'd ever seen from her. "And I know that whenever something heinous happened, he would take out that clipping and look into your eyes. God, I was so jealous that he had this person outside our world who gave him so much joy."

I heard AJ say, "Yes, she does," then.

But not from the laptop.

And a second later he was climbing into that hot tub next to me fully clothed. His eyes glistening with mischief...