That Sassy Korean Girl

That Sassy Korean Girl © By Alex J. Tan (Part 3)

Chapter 3: Thank you for everything.

"C'mon-lah, that guy? He hardly even socializes with the people around him. He's not in the least of his mood to even chase any girl." Samuel retorted after Se-Yi had defended Jay.
"So... what do you want me to do?" Se-Yi proceeded to stare at Samuel in an irritating way.
"What else? A beautiful girl like you definitely deserves a more caring guy." Samuel replied as he folded his arms.
"Are you... referring that guy as yourself then?" The girl felt almost disgusted by his action.
"Well, if you're the one complimenting me like that, I'd take it with a thank you." Samuel answered with a delightful tone.
Someone undecidedly tapped on his back, causing him to jump by surprise!

"I didn't know your lunch was at this point of time. Or are you just so 'dry' that you had to disturb the new staff that was about to go out for lunch?" In a sharp manner Jay hurled words directly at Samuel. His words that was so sharp, Se-Yi could almost feel the tense awkwardness between those two men.

Knowing well that Jay wasn't a person to be messed with, Samuel decided to back off, avoiding confrontation with him.
"Hold on a sec, I'm just curious. How or what is your relationship between you and her?" Samuel asked all of a sudden while Jay accompanied Se-Yi out.
"I don't know how to answer that..." Jay's sudden reply as he turned around.
"...But I'm pretty darn sure that she's not regretting her choice either."


"Oppa, gomawoyo! Thanks for helping me back there." Se-Yi thanked Jay as they both sat down at a restaurant that was just a few blocks away from the bank.
"Why? Did he disturbed you badly?" Jay asked, sounding concerned towards Se-Yi all of a sudden. "Aniya! It's nothing like that." The girl responded defensively, not wanting Jay to cause any sort of ruckus.
"He just... talks a lot..."
"Yeah, he does that often. Do you know what we call that here?" The lad proceeded to ask her. Se-Yi shook her head, adding a shrug motion as well as she didn't know how the locals around here would say such things.
"Kepo, or Kaypoh." Jay replied, almost smiling, but the confused girl just kept staring at him in a clueless way. She blinked her eyes repeatedly, while her confused expression made Jay uneasy and awkward. It barely amuses her.

"What does that mean?" Se-Yi enquire more about the meaning.
"It means, someone who practically wants to know everything. Or in short, Knowing Every Particular Object. K.E.P.O" Jay explained and spelt out the word itself. He sighed for a moment, putting the assumption that Se-Yi was going to have a hard time here since she doesn't know the slang of Malaysians. Instead, the girl burst out laughing all of a sudden!

In a high pitched laughter while finding that humorously funny, whereas Jay didn't. He only felt embarrassed because Se-Yi's laughter was so loud, that it was starting to attract attention.
He grinded his teeth in discomfort, trying to find a way to stop her from embarrassing both of them.
"Oi, diam-lah! You're trying to be famous again is it?!" Jay quickly said to her, trying to get her to control her laughter.
"But it's so funny!" Se-Yi's poor excuse, covering her mouth as she giggled this time.
Jay sighed, finding that absurd. He was on the verge of reaching out to Se-Yi's lips, wanting to shut her mouth when his meal finally arrived, along with Se-Yi's.

"Huh? Ige mwoya? What is this?" Se-Yi asked curiously as she stared at her food up close on the table.
"It's called Nasi Lemak." Jay answered as he began eating his meal. At long last, Se-Yi had finally stopped laughing.
"Nasi Lemak?" The Korean girl stared once more at the odd looking dish that had rice, some spicy sauce, a chicken drumstick, half boiled eggs, and slices of cucumber.

"The sauce is spicy though, so be careful." Jay warned her as he saw how bewildered the girl looked.
"Is it spicy like Dak Galbi?" All of a sudden, Se-Yi grew excited.
"Duck, what?" The lad couldn't understand her as his eyes just went big with exclamation.
"Gwaenchana, you don't know that dish." Se-Yi disregarded what she had said to Jay as she took a mouth full of Nasi Lemak.
At the very second itself, Se-Yi's eyes became watery!
Her face turning red, and her facial expression looked like she was about to pass out. Se-Yi knew what she was dealing with. A real, hot spicy sensation that was burning her tongue!
She quickly grabbed her drink and in one go, finished all of it!

"Dios mio! That is spicy!" She exclaimed, trying to fan her tongue that was still stinging hot. It practically made Jay chuckled as he watched her panting tirelessly.
"Didn't know you could speak a bit of Spanish. It actually makes you multicultural now." Jay admired her way of saying things in a different language.
"Yah! My friend is the one who could speak Spanish, not me. He taught me some words." Se-Yi answered back, not wanting to play around.
"Okay..." Jay suddenly discontinued the conversation, chewing his food instead.
"That's it?" Se-Yi suddenly realized that Jay couldn't care much about her. The lad stared at her in an odd manner, quite tired.
"Then, what do you want me to say? Oh Se-Yi, you should be extra careful next time you eat something spicy." He couldn't help but to throw in his usual sarcasm towards her. Se-Yi stuck out her tongue in retaliation. Blowing a raspberry that got on Jay's nerve slightly.
"Real childish, Se-Yi. You could win an award for that, you know." He added as he continued eating his meal.
It actually irritated Se-Yi as she glowered towards Jay, wanting to smack him!


While learning through the process of what car loans were all about from her senior, Se-Yi's smartphone began to ring.

"Adik, your phone..." Yasotha's finger pointed directly at the phone that was brightly lit.
"Huh?" Se-Yi stared down at the phone that had her manager's name plastered on the screen. The lass quickly took her phone to answer the call.
"Excuse me..."
Not wanting the other staff to find out anything about her 'other side' of her life, Se-Yi tried speaking discreetly, to which she failed to do so.

"<What do you want?>" The Korean girl answered rudely on the phone.
As she had spoken in Korean, everyone within her group began to stare and eavesdrop towards her conversation with someone on the phone.
"<Have you finally changed your mind? It's been 2 days without money and the loneliness is starting to get to you, right?>" Her agent teased her, trying to get into her head about returning towards her former lifestyle.
"<Maybe a little bit. But it still doesn't stop me from enjoying my stay here.>" Se-Yi answered back confidently.
"<Why do you say so?>" Mr. Lee asked, rather curious to know the girl's sudden answer that didn't seem right.
"<Because I have finally found someone who's not crazy about me. He cares, but he's also really neutral about it. Like, he's really, really quite chill that I'm standing right beside him! I've never seen a person quite like him!>" Se-Yi answered, turning towards Jay's direction. Seeing him busy with his work, the lad barely notices the girl's stare towards him.

"<Well... Who could stop you? Since you wanted the life of a normal girl, the agency did not hesitate in taking away your privileges.>" Mr. Lee's cold words that instantly had Se-Yi all fired up.
"<You better not be freezing my account! I will sucker punch you if I ever see you again! Understand?!>" Se-Yi suddenly yelled in what appears to be a childish manner, attracting everyone within the room, while they stared at her unbelievably.
As she quickly realized that she had made a huge mistake, she turned towards the people in front of her, cheeks blushing red from embarrassment!

"Joesonghamnida! Sorry!" Se-Yi bowed her head repeatedly, feeling all embarrassed as some of the staff began to chuckle in amusement, while others shook their heads with wonder.
Jay watched her apologized, while he covered a part of his face to pretend that he didn't really know who Se-Yi was.
"Aiyo... That comedian..." He mumbled, shutting his eyes for a moment to forget what he had just witnessed from Se-Yi.


"Aish... Jinjja..." Se-Yi grew visibly frustrated after awhile upon seeing her account frozen from her smartphone. All of her hard earned money, now unreachable and useless in some way. This will have a lot of impact of which could affect in the coming days.
"<You really want me to die, do you?>" The Korean girl further mumbled as she kept her phone away. Her thoughts were clouded with negative emotions after that last phone call.

"Oi, budak! Continue your work-leh." Lai Kuan sternly told Se-Yi, catching the girl caught off guard.
"Ne, joesonghamnida." Se-Yi apologized to her as she quickly continued her unfinished work. She bit her lip, starting to feel that her day was about to get a lot more hectic than it already was.


By the time evening came, Jay waited for Se-Yi near the exit while the latter was finishing her work. He began to fiddle with his phone, going through the social media to get the latest update on news. It was not good news however.

News circulated about Se-Yi's disappearance in Malaysia. It has been a few days now, and fans were raging in anger over who kidnapped her. Worse, who killed her? Rumours that spread like that.
He scrolled through the comments section, wondering if anyone had a lead on Se-Yi's whereabouts.
Instead, it was all threats and cusses in regards to the 'kidnapper'. The lad read one by one, seeing how aggressive and spiteful each comments were. Flabbergasted, yet intriguing. Was Se-Yi that big of a star, that probably made everyone adore her like a Goddess of some kind?

Se-Yi came out from the office shortly after, stretching herself like a cat that had woken up from its sleep.
"Aigoo..." She felt rather painful behind her back.
"<Anymore of this pain, I think I would need the hospital.>" Se-Yi simply stated to herself moments before she saw Jay from a distance, who seem troubled for a reason.
Out of sheer excitement, she waved at him with both her hands up in the most enthusiastic way she could, but Jay had his back turned from her.


"Oppa! Waeyo?" Se-Yi grew concerned, seeing him startled by her sudden presence.
"Why is your face like that?" She immediately asked him as she went closer to him.
Jay could only respond by showing her the post that was on the internet. And other news related to that as well. The girl simply frowned upon seeing that. That was the last thing that she had expected to see.

"I... didn't expect that." She stated solemnly.
"Then what were you expecting?" Jay's sudden question that sounded like a sharp knife pointing at her.
"I, uh..." Se-Yi couldn't answer him, turning her head elsewhere while feeling rather awkward about the whole situation.
"To be honest with you-lah, you shouldn't even be here. Working here, I mean. Your life, the life of this Ha Se-Yi is where you should get back to. Not Park Shu-Yi, or God-knows the kind of name you're making up." Jay gave out his thoughts while Se-Yi listened attentively.
"But Oppa..." Se-Yi wanted to explain herself, but was cut short by Jay.
"No but's. It would only be a matter of time before they will find you. And when they do, it's not going to be pretty. I've seen the stories, and it usually ends up bad."

A gloomy look formed around Se-Yi's face. She wasn't thrilled about Jay's statement, but he had a solid point.
As an international celebrity, she was well-known to a lot of people. And by working as an office girl, it's not something that she can easily adapt to. It would be a hell of a lot worse if the media found out that she was working as one. Her whole life career would crumble right before her very eyes.


"Oppa, I'm hungry." Se-Yi suddenly said to Jay as they headed towards the bus stop.
"Don't change subjects. We're not even done with this conversation." Jay said to her, but the girl pretended not to hear it. Instead, she started whistling to a song that came across her thoughts.
"Where shall we eat, hmm?" The Korean girl grew excited as they sat at the bus stop. Jay sighed from her stubbornness to even have a serious conversation.
"I don't know. What do you have in mind?" He asked back, knowing that Se-Yi wouldn't want to continue the previous topic.

"Hmm... Bibimbap, Bulgogi, Japchae, Hoeddeok, Tteokbokki, Seolleongtang, Soondubu Jiggae and Dak Galbi." Se-Yi mentioned out the very food that she was craving for.
"Err..." Jay's speechless reaction as he took out his wallet to see if he had any money.
"Gwaenchana, I was just kidding." Se-Yi finally grinned as she watched how confused the lad went.
"Well, if you're kidding about it, I think it's best if I make the decision then." Jay quickly made up his mind as he kept his wallet back.
"Yah! Don't forget! It better not be spicy like that meal we had in the afternoon!" Se-Yi proceeded to remind him, showing her fist directly at Jay in her attempts to threaten him.
"Okay, okay. Just chill out, alright?" He responded by trying to calm the girl down.

"<You're lucky we're not in my home country. If not, I would hit you really, really bad!>" Se-Yi said to Jay in Korean, baffling him for a second.
"Language. We don't want to tip off the people that you're not from around here." The lad reminded her.
"Ne, joesonghamnida." Se-Yi apologised with an innocent smile, somewhat provoking him at the same time just as the bus had arrived.


"Jay-Oppa, since when did they serve nice food here? I thought the food was plain." Se-Yi started talking with her mouth full of food. Something that Jay had to endure for the time being. His eyebrow twitching in annoyance, but he could live with it somehow.
The pair made their way to KLCC, much to Se-Yi's disappointment. But seeing that they were dining at a restaurant that the lass had never stepped foot before, she was quite okay about it.

"They always serve good food here in KLCC. In fact, wasn't this the place that you had that event a few days back prior to your... 'disappearance'?" Jay didn't want to speak out so loud, adding a coughing fit just to keep their conversation in discreet.

Se-Yi simply nodded her head as she chomped on her steak, ripping it off. The lad could only watch how the famous celebrity girl was practically enjoying her meal. He had doubts earlier that the girl may not actually enjoy the local food around, and may find it difficult to adapt to the culture surrounding it. But that didn't seem to be the case.

"I think you could go for another round at the rate you're eating." Jay suddenly spoke out.
"Ye? A-Aniya! It's more than enough!" Se-Yi simply refused to let Jay buy another meal, almost blushing at the sight of that.
"C'mon-lah, from the way you're eating, it's like you haven't had a meal in years." He easily read her while sipping upon his drink.
"Oppa, it's more than enough! Jinjjayo!" The Korean girl replied truthfully, lifting her right hand up, like swearing on an oath.
"Okay... But you do like it right?" Jay asked once more, wanting to confirm it with a sly smile spreading across his face.
"Ne, joa!" Se-Yi responded positively with a bright cheerful smile, acting like a kid in front of Jay.

"So tell me, if I were to buy one more, would you eat it?" He couldn't help but to simply tease her a little, smiling suddenly. Se-Yi bit her lip, tempted by his offer.
"Ne..." She admitted shyly, while still chewing on her food. It made Jay chuckled in humor as it was an unusual sight for Se-Yi to respond like that.
"Okay then. I'll order one more since I'm a bit hungry as well." Jay added as he called the waiter.


With the 2 of them were strolling around KLCC right after dinner, they couldn't help but notice that a certain group of people were eyeing on them. Feeling somewhat unsafe, Jay started assessing the situation, suspecting that something was about to happen.

"I don't know about you, but I'm starting to feel that they're gonna find out who you really are in just a matter of minutes." Jay foreshadowed the outcome towards Se-Yi, while looking behind to see if anyone was following them.
"Ottoke?" The lass gasped, tensed for a brief moment as she didn't know what to do, holding onto her handbag tightly. The worried look surrounding her face made her uneasy.
"Things will become crazy just like the other day!"

With his quick thinking, Jay immediately grabbed Se-Yi's wrist, heading towards the nearby optician shop. He had a plan in mind that could just work.
"Tie your hair up like a bun!" Jay instructed her as he quickly picked out a pair of glasses from the display glass panel. A rather oddly huge ones that he knows one would never consider picking.

"Nah, pakai ini." He helped Se-Yi by fitting it to her face. Se-Yi immediately felt uncomfortable with the glasses that wasn't properly adjusted on her face. She readjusted the frame before putting it on once more.
"How do I look?" She asked, awaiting for Jay's answer.
"Nerdy, but it'll do." He responded, smiling a bit as Se-Yi made a pout facial expression.
"Make it a little bit more expressive and you might actually look like Harry Potter." Jay added, teasing her.
"Mwo?! Then, be prepared when I cast a spell at you!" Se-Yi replied sarcastically, her eyes glaring at him.
"What kind of 'spell'?" Jay looked at her curiously, waiting for her to talk back.
"Strangling that neck of yours!" She responded in a serious manner. That stopped Jay from teasing her right after that. But that was just the least of their problems.
Right now, he needs to focus on disguising Se-Yi to the point that no one could recognize her.

After making a quick payment towards the counter over a pair of glasses, they made their way out, only to be confronted by a man that was already waiting for them!
Jay stood in a defensive stance the moment the man approached him!