If You

Confidence

Jiyong sighed. "Yes Mom, I have a girlfriend."

Emily looked up at him and he shook his head at her, pointing at his phone. "No, it's not a publicity stunt." He started pacing across the room. "Yes. Twenty-three. No. Mom!"

Emily looked up again, her eyebrows raised. Jiyong shrugged helplessly. "Yeah, I was hoping to tell you in a few weeks. Because we wanted to wait until... yes ma'am. Yes ma'am. Soon, I promise. Yes ma'am. Love you too." He hung up and tossed his phone onto the bed. "I take it your mom saw the tabloid?" Emily said.

"Who didn't?" he replied, flopping down on the bed.

"She sounded upset," Emily commented.

"She's not upset, just surprised," Jiyong assured her. "I promised I'd take you to meet her soon."

"Okay," Emily agreed, closing her notebook. "But that means you have to go meet my family too, you know."

Jiyong sat up. "Are you sure you're okay?" he asked. Emily nodded. "I'm fine," she said for the thousandth time. "This isn't the first time I've had to deal with tabloids. Not to brag or anything, but I'm pretty well-known back home."

Jiyong smiled ruefully. "You're right," he said, standing up. He checked his watch. "I've got soundcheck in half an hour. Wanna ride with me to the arena?"

"Yeah, just a second," she said, writing furiously. She got up and grabbed her jacket off her chair. "By the way, I've booked you for an interview tomorrow," she said over her shoulder.

"Who with?"

"Me, duh," she said, opening the door.

"For the book?" Jiyong asked, following her out to the hallway.

"This one's for my fan blog. I've got a big following."

It took Jiyong a moment to realize she was kidding. "Very funny," he said, putting his arm around her. "I'll try not to disappoint."

"As long as you don't punch any walls we'll be fine," she teased.

"I'd forgotten about that!" Jiyong exclaimed. "Is the hole-"

"Still there," Emily confirmed, "or at least it was when we left Seoul. The superintendent wasn't very happy."

They walked outside and crossed the street to the parking lot. Jiyong's car was parked near the end, a black Lamborghini with shining rims. "And here I thought I was the only woman in your life," Emily commented. "I can't believe I'm finally getting to ride in your fancy Lamborghini!"

"What are you talking about?" Jiyong asked, opening the door for her. "You've ridden in my car lots of times."

"Mmm, nope," Emily said definitively. "When you hated me I rode in taxis or with the staff, then Seunghyun started giving me rides back and forth." She slid into the seat carefully. "Though I could get used to this," she said, running a hand over the expensive upholstery.

Jiyong went around and got in the driver's seat. "That doesn't sound right," he insisted, starting the car. "And I didn't hate you."

"There's a hole in the wall of my apartment building that says different," Emily said, putting on her sunglasses. She reached over, covered his hand with hers and smiled sweetly. "To be fair, I didn't like you either."

Jiyong laughed and they pulled out into the street smoothly. "We've come a long way in... what's it been, seven months?" He shrugged. "Anyway, I like this a lot better."

They arrived at the arena where a small crowd of hopeful fans was waiting outside the entrance. Jiyong checked his hair in the rearview mirror, then got out smoothly. The fans screamed, waving their signs furiously. He walked around and opened Emily's door, taking her hand as she climbed out. She looked down at her jeans and cardigan. "I really need to dress up more," she said, putting her satchel on.