My Seoul Man

Chapter 58

I snapped. Honest to God.

Swung around and barked, "What's this you're saying to me right now?!"

Blaine put a hand on my shoulder from behind but I slapped it off.

And Hae Won raised her chin at me like an angry mom who wasn't taking any more bull crap from a kid and said, "Will you hear anything I say right now?"

Worked, too. Or, it kind of slowed me down a little bit--woman had more sass than all my aunties put together. Fire breathing bitch...

So I sort of whined, "I just... we flew a whole day almost, to get here..."

Sounding like a teenage girl who'd been dragged along on a family road trip or something.

But my frustration was justified.

AJ had "disappeared."

It was all over the front pages of the tabloids and flashing every few minutes on those huge billboard things on the sides of skyscrapers.

One that I could actually see from the sky villa atop one of the twin towers her family owned, had the nerve to put up a Godzilla-sized photo of him with the big, bold caption, "Where in the world is Ahn Ji-Yeong?"

"That shit's not even funny," I told her, pointing at the glass wall that gave me a panoramic view of both the city and that damned billboard.

"Be glad they're joking around a little bit," she warned me. "That may mean they're running out of new nonsense to print. Honestly, they're like zoo gorillas throwing poop at the visitors just to enjoy their reactions. When they stop reacting, it's time to find a new trick."

I sat back in the very uncomfortable chair I'd sunk down into--the furniture was so artsy I couldn't even tell what some pieces were for. The chair was all folded up like origami. And folded you up, when you slid your butt down into it. I had to turn sideways and swing my legs over to plant my feet on the floor and shove myself up and out, finally.

I rubbed my temples to center myself and said, "Tell me you had no idea he'd run off, though? I mean..."

"He was in the country, as far as they--ah, here's Minho!"

Not sure how she knew that but something in the room had told her he'd arrived. Those towers were crazy complicated. Like the furniture.

Everything you touched was "smart." I almost felt like I could push a button and make both buildings fold up into a little cube like that Allspark in the Transformers movies.

Blaine had found a "couch" with actual cushions on it. The frame was made of glass or something, but it did look like a couch.

"So... are we going through with the whole... business trip thing or what?" he asked. "The press conference and all that?"

And Hae Won sighed and said, "We have to. Otherwise..."

I let out a little whimper, but reined back in somehow. And said, "So, I have to cook for these people?"

"You won't even have to speak," she assured me. "There's a little film that I think you'll actually like. Though samples would've been lovely."

"The way I'm feeling right now? I woulda probably used sugar instead of salt or something."

"The Sadie's Diner thing is kinda cool, though," Blaine said. "Seoul Food at Sadie's Diner..."

They'd cooked up--pun intended--a really impressive lie, her "people." They'd hyped up her return to Korea almost like one of those "comebacks" idol groups have every few months.