Note: I recently began writing this story. I intend it to be a novel, or at least a novelette, with a minimum of 10 chapters, maybe more, depending on how the story goes. This is the first chapter. Please feel free to post your comments, speculations, critiques and suggestions. I will post more chapters from time to time.

I am going to post the text in another color. If you will comment, please use a black font so it will be easy to distinguish the story posts. Thanks!

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

He

No one turned to give him a second glance-- evening joggers were not an unusual sight in the park, and the darkness made it hard to distinguish faces anyway-- but Seo Jae-seung kept the hood of his gray sweatshirt up, shadowing his face. It was best to avoid a riot.

It had been a couple of years since he left the idol group where he had been front man and lead vocalist for over five years, but his face was still pretty well-known. At least, though, now he could actually enjoy some alone time in peace. Night time was great for alone time.

He headed towards his own favorite place in the park, a grassy slope with cement steps leading down to a promenade overlooking the Han River. At this hour it was usually quiet and deserted.

Not tonight, though.

He was sitting down on the top step when he saw that someone was sitting at the bottom, looking like a gray lump topped by a darker-colored one. It moved, reaching into a plastic bag beside it. A tinny pop. A gurgle. A long, trembling breath. Was that a catch at the end?

As his eyes adjusted to the lighting, he saw the person rub its arms, as if it were cold. On this nice June evening? A long sigh.

Jae-seung was just preparing to get up and leave, when he heard a voice. Speaking English, of all languages. Female. Young-sounding, a bit trembly, slurring some of the words.

“And so here I am in Seoul. Of all places. Finally. I should be happy, right? Why am I not happy then? I wanted this. It was supposed to be an escape. But I don't feel like I've escaped at all.”

She got to her feet, swaying a bit, and walked across the promenade.

“I'm alone in a foreign country and it's cold and I can't go home!” she screamed at the water. “Why did I even come here in the first place? Aaaaaaaargh! Whyyyy?” She began yelling in another language that Jae-seung didn't know, but it sounded like curses, especially when she repeated what sounded like a name over and over. “Bwisitka Jaek! Jaekmasangkay! Bwisitka gagoka talaga! Madapakasana Jaek!”

And then Jae-seung really did get to his feet and run down the steps in a rush as she stepped closer to the edge of the promenade.

“Hey!” he shouted. “Don't do that! You'll fall in!!”

She looked around, and he caught just a glimpse of her wide eyes as she pitched off-balance and he made a grab for her. Falling. Tumbling backwards and hitting the cement, and then getting his breath knocked out as she fell on top of him with a wail.

Jae-seung just lay there for a moment, taking stock, feeling places on his back starting to sting where he'd hit the cement. And then she began to flail around, trying to get up, digging her elbows into his ribs and hitting him in awkward places.

“Ouch! Hey!” he yelled. “Hold still for a while! That hurts!”

She finally rolled off of him to sprawl in a tumbled heap on the cement while he tried to catch his breath and get his eyes focused -- she'd managed to punch her elbow in his abdomen. He rubbed the painful spot. “Aish,” he muttered. “This is the last time I do this!”

She poked his arm with a finger. Very lightly at first, then harder. He rolled his eyes around at her and glared. She had managed to get up into a kneeling position, using her long skirt to cushion them from the hard cement. Her hair had been dislodged from the bun on top of her head and was now straggling down around her face in unruly curls. She wasn't really pretty-- dark, with a snubbed nose and a wide mouth, and from what he could see covered by the thick knitted gray cardigan, white sweater and dark brown velvet skirt, definitely not slim like the beautiful idol girls he'd once dated. But there was one thing she had that those girls would have coveted-- big, beautiful round eyes.

“Are you okay?” she asked. English again. “Are you hurt?”

“What do you think?” he answered in Korean, not bothering to try recalling his rudimentary English vocabulary in his irritation. “You hit some parts you shouldn't have when you landed on top of me, of course it hurts! What are you doing here alone in the middle of the night anyway? And drunk too! What if you'd fallen into the river, you foolish girl?”

“If you're hurt you should've just said so immediately!” she answered, glaring back at him. “And don't call me a fool!” Hiccup. Hiccup. The look of dismay on her face suddenly made Jae-seung suppress a chuckle.

“So you understand Korean?” he asked. She cocked her head at him, frowning.

“Are you asking me if I understand Korean?” she asked. He nodded.

“I know some words. That's all. You said 'pain' and 'fool'.” Hiccup. “So you understand English, that's obvious.” Hiccup. “I'm sorry you got hurt.” Hiccup. She finally clamped her hands over her mouth, but of course that didn't have any effect at all.

Jae-seung finally felt well enough to struggle into a sitting position and check his arms for injuries. When he looked up, she was staring wide-eyed at him. Then she fell back onto her butt and stared some more.

“Jae-seungie?” she whispered.

He felt for his hood and realized it had fallen off his head.

“You recognize me?” he asked. “Are you... a fan?”

“Oh my,” she said. “Oh no.” And then, in Korean, “No way!” She scrambled to her feet. “I'm sorry, thank you, and, just...” She gave a quick little bow and hurriedly limped away, then stopped, returned to collect her stuff from the steps, cast him another glance, and escaped.

Jae-seung watched her go with a grimace. So this was what his former top idol status was reduced to, if even fangirls ran away from him now. He sighed, got up, and dusted himself off, wincing a bit, then flipped his hood back over his head and made for the steps. Maybe he'd be better off going home.

He stumbled over the bottom step and his foot hit something that skidded away with a metallic sound. He bent and picked up a cellphone with attached earbuds. It was still playing some music. Curious, he placed a bud in one ear and heard his own voice. It was one of his idol group's most popular songs, one of his soloes, about someone trying to let go of the bitterness he felt because of a breakup. Hers?

He shoved the phone into a hoodie pocket and headed for the park exit, intending to return the phone to her if he saw her. But he reached the exit and reemerged on the street without seeing her.

Oh, come on, Seo Jae-seung, he scolded himself. She could be anywhere by now. Or went through another exit. What are you going to do, look for her all over Seoul just to return her phone? She wasn't even that pretty. Let's go home, huh?

He was headed back to his apartment when he spotted her again. Or at least he was sure it was her, hurrying along the sidewalk ahead of him, wearing a shapeless thick gray knitted cardigan and a long velvet brown skirt, with her hair falling out of its bun again. Even though she was walking fast, she was not walking straight, and other people were beginning to move out of her way and stare. For the first time, he noticed that aside from the plastic bag, a bulging tote bag was dangling from her elbow.

Jae-seung sped up to try and overtake her, but the man just ahead of him beat him to it… he suddenly ran and snatched the tote bag from the girl’s arm. She shrieked and tried to hold on to it, but the snatcher yanked it out of her grasp so hard that she fell down flat.

“Hey!” Jae-seung shouted. “Stop him!” But the thief was already out of sight, and people were beginning to gather around his victim. And Jae-seung noticed that she was still lying in a heap. He politely excused himself and pushed his way through the crowd, which was beginning to murmur.

“She was drunk!” “Maybe she got knocked out.” “Did the snatcher push her that hard?” “Does she need to be brought to the hospital?” “Maybe she’s just too drunk. She wasn’t walking straight.”

“What’s the matter?” he asked. “What’s happening? Is she hurt?”

He got down on his knees beside her.

“Miss, are you all right? Miss?” He touched her arm tentatively. She didn’t stir. He shook her gently. No response.

“I think she needs to be brought to the hospital,” he said, looking up at the crowd.

Someone gasped.

“It’s Seo Jae-seung!” “Jae-seungie!” “Really? Jae-seungie?” “Jae-seungie of Divinity?” “He’s no longer in Divinity!” “He’s still Seo Jae-seung, isn’t he?” “Oh my I can’t believe this! Seo Jae-seung!” Out came the cameras.

Jae-seung turned away hastily, wincing inwardly. She still hadn’t stirred, and he tried to raise her to a sitting position. As he lifted her head, he felt something wet and sticky, and his hand came away red with blood.

“Someone call a taxi, please!” he said. “I’m taking her to the hospital.”

As he carried her to the waiting taxi that another helpful passerby had flagged down, he was followed by the clicking of numerous cameras and keypads as people competed to be the first to report this latest celebrity sighting.

* * *
Jae-seung had been waiting for nearly an hour in the hallway outside the emergency room with the other passersby who had helped bring the girl to the hospital. The middle-aged couple and the other man were beginning to show signs of restlessness. Finally, the couple took their leave, saying they hoped the girl was all right and they had to get back to their children because it was already late.

“So, you think she’ll be all right?” the other man asked. Jae-seung eyed him surreptitiously. He wore a rather flashy suit and his hair was slicked down with wax. He had made a point of paying for the taxi, too. Jae-seung didn’t really like him.

“I don’t know,” Jae-seung finally answered. “But it is taking rather long. Would they take this long if she were all right…?”

“You know her?” the man asked. “That girl?”

“She was walking in the park earlier.” Jae-seung forced himself to unbend a little. The man had helped, after all.

“Ha! So you noticed her, too! Despite the ugly clothes, man, she has some curves!” the other man cackled, drawing circles in the air with his hands to illustrate the extent of those curves. “Maybe later she will even be grateful we helped her, if you know what I mean!”

Jae-seung revised his opinion of the other man sharply downwards. “I think I’ll get something to drink,” he said, and stood up. When he came back, the man was fumbling around in his pocket for cigarettes and offered him one.

Jae-seung shook his head and pointed at the No Smoking sign. It was the other man’s turn to leave, grumbling about desperately needing a smoke.

He sat back down and sipped his orange juice slowly, glancing at the clock from time to time. Five minutes later, the emergency room door opened and a nurse emerged, a motherly ahjumma. Jae-seung looked at her hopefully.

“Oh, the people who brought in that girl with a head injury have gone already?” she asked.

“I’m still here,” Jae-seung said. “I mean, I’m one of them. How is she? Is she all right?”

The nurse’s eyes widened slightly when she looked at him, but she didn’t comment on his identity.

“If you’re the only one left, Doctor would like to talk to you, please,” she said. Jae-seung tried to ask her more questions, but she would only say that the doctor would explain.

* * *

“She has amnesia,” Dr. Choi said.

Jae-seung stared at him for a while, frowning.

“She can’t remember who she is and where she is from,” the doctor elaborated, misinterpreting his frown for lack of comprehension. Jae-seung didn’t point out that he’d played an amnesiac in a drama a couple of years before and at least knew the definition.

“You said earlier that she fell and hit her head on the pavement. We treated the bleeding, but she didn’t regain consciousness until fifteen minutes ago. We ran some more tests, she has a minor concussion, a headache, but otherwise her responses are normal. Except for the part where she can’t remember anything.” Dr. Choi tapped his pen on the table. “Normally we would just discharge the patient and give their family some instructions, but this situation has complicated matters a bit. Do you know anything about her or her family?”

At that moment the door opened again and the nurse came in with the other man.

“I was outside for a smoke,” the man said. “Fortunately, I saw the nurse when I went back in. I’m one of the people who brought her here, doctor.”

The doctor frowned at him, then repeated what he had said to Jae-seung.

“I’ll pay for her stay in the hospital,” the man said. “You can discharge her into my care. No need to worry— I’ll find her family for her.” He grinned at Jae-seung, who suddenly remembered their earlier conversation.

“He doesn’t need to, Doctor. I can do that,” Jae-seung said. “I was planning to go to the police station to report the incident after I left here.”

“Here, now, you don’t trust me to do that?” the man demanded.

“Well, it would also not look good if I didn’t do that,” Jae-seung said, giving him a cool stare. “Or didn’t you see all those cameras earlier? The photos are probably all over the internet by now. With my face in them.”

“Your face? Who do you think you are, some actor?” the man asked, giving his gray hoodie and sweatpants a once-over.

“He’s Seo Jae-seung,” the nurse pointed out helpfully. “Doctor, I don’t know if you remembered, but you watched that drama with him in it, the one about the guy with amnesia. And you said he was good.”

The doctor’s expression showed he clearly remembered. He turned and stared at Jae-seung again.

“That girl,” he said, “is injured and needs help. She does not deserve to be material for a publicity stunt.”

“Doctor, I wasn’t thinking of a publicity stunt,” Jae-seung retorted. “But at the same time, it wouldn’t be good for my image to walk away from this.” Such as my image is right now, he silently added. “On the other hand, with me, you don’t need character references. My reputation is already well-known. If I did something wrong, you wouldn’t even need to do anything. The public would crucify me.” As they have already done, many times. Damn it, they would probably also crucify me for this, but I’m not sure she would be safe with the other guy. I don’t trust that gleam in his eye.

Dr. Choi was still frowning.

“And the reason you are so interested in her is…?” He raised an eyebrow.

“Oh, no, no, it’s nothing romantic,” Jae-seung hastened to assure him. “You were asking me if I knew how to contact her family. That would be rather difficult, seeing that they are not in this country.” And I don’t really have the slightest idea where they are or what country they’re in. “She’s, um… she’s a fan I once met.” About a couple of hours ago. “We sort of became friends…” I yelled at her and she yelled back and then she ran away. “…and earlier this evening I ran into her in the park and we said hi, and then I saw her again walking ahead of me when I was on my way home, and I saw what happened.” Stupid, stupid, stupid! What are you doing, Seo Jae-seung?

“Ah.” The doctor sat back, relaxing a bit. “So you really are acquainted with her? That’s a relief. She’s obviously a foreigner and I was worried for a while that we would not be able to locate her parents. Since she didn’t have any identification on her when you brought her in, we wouldn’t even know which embassy to contact. But since you know her, then perhaps we can place her in your custody, while her family is being found.”

“Thank you, doctor.” Jae-seung stood up and bowed to him, then to the other man. “Thank you for your help, sir. You have been very generous. But I can handle this from now on.”

Dr. Choi nodded to the nurse to escort away the other man, who was still muttering about “damned idol pretty boys who use their pretty faces to get everything they wanted.” When the door shut behind them, the doctor fixed Jae-seung with a stare.

“Your concern for your fan is commendable, but I’m still not very sure that releasing her into your care would be the right thing to do. However, hospital policy requires me to release the patient soon since her injury would be categorized as minor. You said you were going to the police station to report the incident. Do that. She can stay here overnight at least.”

“Thank you, Doctor. May I see her now?”

“Only for a few minutes.” The doctor looked up as the nurse opened the door and came in. “Nurse Yoo can take you to her.”

“Oh, that poor lost child! It’s a relief to know she won’t be alone now, really,” the nurse said. “She broke down when she realized she couldn’t even remember her name.”

The doctor looked at Jae-seung suddenly.

“What is her name, by the way?”

Jae-seung cast around desperately for a possible name and hit on the nurse’s words. “Mi-ah. I knew her as Mi-ah, at least that was what her name sounded like when she introduced herself to me.”

Doctor Choi cocked an eyebrow at him.

“Mi-ah. Really.”

“Aigoo, isn’t that a coincidence, Doctor?” Nurse Yoo exclaimed. “She really is a lost child. Such a sad coincidence.”

“And you do remember the names of all your fans that you meet?” the doctor observed dryly.

Jae-seung gave him a wry smile.

“Only the ones who are memorable, Doctor.”

The nurse smiled approvingly at Jae-seung as she led him down the hospital corridor.

“I always heard you were a nice boy, and now I see they were right! Fancy you going to these lengths for one of your fans. Was she really that memorable?”

Jae-seung shrugged.

“Why was she memorable?” the nurse persisted.

“She treated me like an ordinary person,” Jae-seung said. “She was nice and not at all pushy the way a lot of other fans are.” She ran away when she realized who I was. He changed the topic. “Is she asleep?”

“It’s about time for someone to wake her up and check her symptoms anyway,” the nurse said, reverting quickly to her brisk professional self. “We have to do that every now and then tonight, to make sure her injury isn’t worse than it seems. Tomorrow night she can sleep without interruption, but she will need to be checked on from time to time as well.”

She opened a door. “Here we are.”

She

Her head hurt. It felt like someone had put it in a vise and was alternately squeezing and releasing it to the accompaniment of a band of monkeys banging cymbals and pounding bass drums. The scrapes on her face and arms stung, and the cut just behind her right ear throbbed dully. They’re not even in rhythm, she thought crankily as she shifted her position in an effort to be more comfortable.

Everything hurts so badly it’s hard to go to sleep, and just when I’m dropping off to sleep someone comes in and wakes me up. And talks to me in a language I feel I should know, but I don’t understand it. They don’t understand me when I try to talk to them either. But sometimes someone does, and then it’s frustrating to see them suddenly look blank while I’m trying to talk to them. They couldn’t possibly be idiots if they’re working at a hospital—so does that mean I’m the idiot? At least they left only the night light on in here… I have the feeling that the bright light would only make my head hurt more.

The door opened. She opened one eye carefully and watched as two figures entered. Probably a nurse and one of the orderlies, here to check on her again. She closed her eyes and hoped they would go away soon.

“My dear, are you awake? A friend of yours is here to see you,” the nurse said. The room brightened, a sudden glow across her eyelids. Then she realized she understood what the nurse had said, and opened her eyes to see a young man—a boy?—wearing a gray tracksuit approach and sit down in a chair by her bed.

“A friend?” she asked hopefully. “Do you know who I am…?”

He leaned forward as the door slid shut, and she caught her breath. Dear Lord. I have a guy friend this beautiful? Longish straight black hair flopped over his forehead, almost covering dark almond-shaped eyes, long and slightly uptilted at the corners. A straight nose, high cheekbones, and lush lips. Fair skin. He seemed a little too thin for her taste, though. She frowned; she certainly felt as if she knew him, but his name refused to come to mind.

“I don’t understand your language,” he said slowly, as if he was choosing his words. “But we talked to each other in English.”

English. Oh. Something clicked in her mind. English was the language he used, that the nurse had used. She had been trying to talk to them in another language, one whose name she couldn’t remember.

“What is my language? And what is yours?” she asked.

“My language is Korean. You are in South Korea. In Seoul, to be exact. I don’t know your language,” he said.

“Korea!” She tried to sit up, someone smacked her head with a sledgehammer, and she fell back against the pillow. “Oww. Ow. Owwww. Grrr.” She scrunched her eyes up and lay very still until the monkeys stopped playing their heavy-metal riff.

“Are you all right?”

She opened one eye to see him still sitting there, staring hesitantly at her.

“Some friend you are,” she grumbled. “I could have fainted right in front of you and you probably wouldn’t have lifted a hand. I sure hope you aren’t my boyfriend, because if you are…”

“Well, in fact, I was the one who brought you to the hospital,” he pointed out very reasonably. “And no, I most certainly am not your boyfriend,” he added with a curl of his lip. Those kissable lips. Now where did that come from? Down, girl. That headache must be addling your brains more than the doctor thought.

“I’m in Korea…?” she asked. “I guess this means I’m not Korean then. So… what am I?”

“I don’t know, either.”

She narrowed her eyes at him.

“I thought you’re my friend. How come you don’t know where I’m from?”

“Because you never told me somehow?”

“Oh.” She fell quiet, contemplating what sort of person she must have been to not have told her friends the important stuff about herself. “So… did I never tell you who I was as well?”

He looked down, then looked back at her.

“I called you Mi-ah,” he said. “And that’s all.”

“Oh,” she said again. And that’s all that remains of me… a name that may or may not be my real name. The nurse told me that I accidentally fell and hit my head when someone snatched my purse, and that I didn’t have any papers or ID on me. “Who am I?” she whispered.

The door opened again, and the nurse came back into the room.

“It’s time for you to go,” she said to the guy. “You can come back to get her tomorrow. For now she must rest as much as she can.”

He stood up.

“Thank you, Nurse,” he said. “I will be going now, then.”

“Wait!” the girl in the bed cried as he walked to the door. He turned back and looked at her. “What’s your name?” she asked. “I don’t remember.”

“Jae-seung,” he answered, and gave her a kind smile. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“Jae-seung,” she repeated to herself, snuggling back down into the bed as the nurse dimmed the lights and closed the door behind them. Somehow the name sounded familiar. Somehow. She just couldn’t remember why. But if his name sounded familiar, then I must really know him, mustn’t I?

I have a friend. I have a name. Mi-ah. I’m no longer quite so alone. Even the monkeys have tired of jamming and quieted down. Maybe I can sleep now. Maybe…

Jae-seung

Jae-seung was at the police station when his handphone rang. The police officer taking his statement gave him an annoyed look. Jae-seung gave a little bow in apology.

“The agency president,” he explained. “And he must have found out just now what happened.” The officer gave a little resigned shake of his head, but didn’t comment.

“Hello, sajangnim ,” Jae-seung said. “I’m sorry at the police station right now. I’ll call you back later.” And he ended the call while the person on the other end was still sputtering wordlessly. “Now where were we, sir?”

“They let you do that now?” the policeman—Officer Park-- said. “I seem to remember several years ago you could hardly move without someone telling you to shut your mouth.”

“I was an ignorant kid then,” Jae-seung answered. “And I didn’t do anything this time.”

Officer Park grunted in what could have been amusement.

“This is just a small incident, anyway, but you came in to make the report yourself,” he said, giving Jae-seung a look.

“Well, I might as well,” Jae-seung answered. “By now it’s common knowledge I was at the scene and you would have come around to question me anyway. Also, sir, it’s not quite a small incident. I helped to bring the girl to the hospital.”

“And…?”

Jae-seung explained what had happened. Officer Park looked at him with more interest. He admitted he didn’t quite know the proper procedure for locating the family of a crime victim who had lost her memory and who was a foreigner, but he would ask the higher-ups. He did give Jae-seung a suspicious look when he found out about the hospital agreeing to release the girl to him, but Jae-seung reiterated his story and he agreed that Jae-seung was perhaps the only person who was acquainted with her.

“She should be in the custody of her embassy, but we don’t know which embassy. We could take custody, but we have no room for her, and Social Services need their own room for their clients, so you having temporary custody would be a help.” He fixed Jae-seung with a stare. “But what about you?”

“Huh?” Jae-seung asked blankly.

“You. Seo Jae-seung. Your career. Your fans. Wouldn’t it cause a scandal?”

“Sir, you know where I live. I wouldn’t really be alone with her in the house, if that’s what you mean. And I could always send her to stay with one of the secretaries or assistants, not with me.”

“Ah, but you accepted custody. You, not someone else.”

Jae-seung shrugged.

“She’s not my type, Officer. You’d know if you saw her. Besides, do you really need to give the press the details if they asked for the story? Just tell them she’s fine and she’s now recovering from her injury, and the incident will be forgotten in a few days.”

Officer Park tapped his pen on the table.

“All right. But I will be coming around to check on her in a day or two.”

“Sure, Officer. If that is all, then perhaps I can go now?”

The policeman nodded. “We’ll call you if we have any information.”

“Thank you, sir.”

As he headed out of the police station, he reached into his pocket for his phone, then frowned at his hand. This isn’t my phone… whose…? Oh. Right. It’s hers. For a moment he debated going back inside and surrendering the phone, but then that would raise the question of why he had it in the first place and why he didn’t produce it when he made his report. The plain truth—“I forgot”—might not be considered a sufficient excuse.

Besides, the damned thing seemed to have emptied its battery. It refused to turn on. He put it back in his pocket and reached into another pocket for his own phone.

“Yes, hyung , I would appreciate it if you came by and picked me up.”

* * *

“But, Jae-ah!” Kang Nam-seok's voice came out as a whine at the end. “You caaan't!”

“Hyung, we've been over this once already,” Jae-seung said resignedly. “It's not like I'm the only one living in the compound. I’ve got Sam-dong and housekeeper ahjumma living in my house. Everyone else in the compound visits all the time.”

“It's not that! It's... what will the kids think?”

“The kids have their own dorms. They can do the same thing when they get old enough to have their own houses.” Jae-seung held his breath, watching his hyung out of the corner of his eye.

“If I weren't driving, I'd hit you with something,” Nam-seok threatened. “Are you so eager to be a bad influence?”

“How could I be a bad influence? I saved the girl and now I'm giving her a place to stay until she can go home. How is that bad? The only bad thing is other people thinking malicious thoughts.”

Nam-seok braked for a red light, snatched up a small pillow from his lap, and smacked Jae-seung, who was sitting in the seat beside him. Jae-seung ducked and laughed.

“I’m serious, Jae-ah,” Nam-seok said. “And to think I wouldn’t have known that you were out of your house if I didn’t make it a habit to check the Internet before going to bed—and the first thing I saw was your face, trending fast!”

“It wasn’t my fault, hyung! I just happened to be there when stuff happened!”

“Yes, but you know the rules in this kind of thing as much as I do… why couldn’t you just have walked on by and not gotten involved?”

“I could have used the publicity?”

“Be serious!”

“Would you like my noonas to punch me?”

“Heavens, no. There are four of them and they’re all ferocious as tigresses!”

“Exactly, hyung. And what do you think my four noonas would do to me if they found out I didn’t do anything to help a girl in trouble?” Jae-seung knew he was clutching at straws by then, but on the other hand, Nam-seok was terrified of his sisters. They tended to gang up on him whenever they met.

“But why... it could have been okay that you brought her to the hospital… but to volunteer to take her in afterwards?” Nam-seok’s voice rose again.

“The light changed,” Jae-seung pointed out helpfully. “And don’t whine, hyung. It doesn’t suit you. Sajangnim.”

His former manager and now the president of Royal Ent., the agency he had signed with after leaving Divinity, glared at him and got the car moving again.

“Is she pretty?” Nam-seok demanded after a while.

“No.”

“Then whyyyy?”

“Don’t miss the turn, hyung,” Jae-seung said.

“Don’t change the subject,” Nam-seok said, making the turn.

Jae-seung sighed.

“I had to, hyung. The other guy who helped to bring her to the hospital was a jerk. I couldn’t leave her with him.”

From the look on Nam-seok’s face, he would have banged his head on the steering wheel if he wasn’t driving.

“I would really, really, really like to ground you for the next couple of weeks,” he pronounced slowly.

“But you can’t,” Jae-seung pointed out the obvious.

Nam-seok gave him another glare.

“Of course I can’t. I may be president of Royal, but if I ever grounded you…”

“Ah, but you won’t, hyung.” Jae-seung winked at him. “I’m perfectly happy with the way things currently are—just as long as we keep our personal lives, well, personal.”

“Sometimes I wonder why I ever signed with you…!”

“Isn’t that supposed to be the other way around, hyung…?”

“Don’t change the subject, you punk!”

* * *

It was well past midnight when Nam-seok deposited Jae-seung on his doorstep inside the Royal compound before driving on to his own house, still grumbling under his breath.

The house was dark and silent. Jae-seung let himself in and decided not to turn on any lights. He ended up stumbling over the foot of the stairs and barking his ankles. Grumbling, he managed to stumble over only two more steps before getting upstairs. Then he miscalculated the distance to his bedroom door and almost walked into the wall.

As he was rubbing his forehead, he heard a click and the hallway light came on.

“You really have to stop doing this, Jae-ah,” his personal assistant, Choi Sam-dong, said severely. He was standing at the end of the hall with his arms crossed, scrutinizing Jae-seung through his eyeglasses. “It was bad enough you were suspected of brawling during your days in Divinity. You really can’t afford a black eye now, you know—not when you have a script reading scheduled in a couple of days.”

Jae-seung sighed. He had opened his bedroom door and stepped inside before the full import of Sam-dong’s words struck him. He turned around and leaned back out the door, almost toppling as he did so, and saving himself by clutching the doorpost. Sam-dong closed his eyes and shook his head resignedly.

“What script reading?” he asked.

“I take it Nam-seok hyung forgot to tell you earlier? He was able to get you a part in Silla Doctor. It’s not the lead—they insisted on an established big-name actor for that—but it is the second lead.”

“Jeon-gu Rang ? I got the part of Jeon-gu Rang?” Jae-seung’s eyes lit up.

“Mm.” Sam-dong nodded.

“Yess!” Jae-seung did a fist-pump, lost his balance completely, and was only saved from falling flat on his back by Sam-dong sprinting to catch him, having anticipated what would happen.

“Really, I still wonder how you got through your trainee years and five years in Divinity,” Sam-dong clucked as Jae-seung regained his feet.

“Simple. I never danced if I could help it. There’s a reason Divinity was a singing group, not a singing-and-dancing group.” Jae-seung grinned unrepentantly.

Sam-dong snorted.

“Well, anyway, that means your vacation has ended again, because you’ll start filming soon. You’re going to be busy for the next three, four months,” he said. “So you had better prepare.”

“Speaking of preparing,” Jae-seung said suddenly. “Sam-dong-ah. Tomorrow morning please have someone get one of the spare rooms ready. We have a guest staying for a while. Wake me up tomorrow early so we can fetch her.”

“A guest? Who is it? Your mom?” Sam-dong practically drooled. “I hope she brings a lot of her banchan.”

“No, not Mom this time.”

“Oh, no. Never tell me one of your noonas is finally coming for a visit.”

“No.”

“Then who?”

“Ask Nam-seok hyung, because I’m going to bed now. Good night.” Jae-seung closed the door on Sam-dong’s protests. He walked across the room, shedding a trail of clothing in his wake, and fell right into bed.

* * *

Despite Jae-seung’s plans, however, it was noon by the time they arrived back home from the hospital the next day. For one thing, Mi-ah was still asleep when they arrived, since she hadn’t gotten much sleep the night before; for another, Doctor Choi insisted on giving her another checkup before he released her. And then there were paperwork to see to, bills to settle, prescriptions to fill, and last-minute instructions to note down.

Finally, though, they walked into his house, to be met and welcomed by ahjumma, who clucked sympathetically over Mi-ah and led her upstairs to the room that had been readied for her. Sam-dong excused himself to see about lunch, and after a while Jae-seung went up to his own room.

Ahjumma had already tidied up; the clothes he’d left on the floor were gone, and the contents of his pockets were lined up on his desk. He frowned when he noticed Mi-ah’s handphone; he’d forgotten it was in the pocket of the hoodie he’d dropped on the floor last night. Making another mental note to have Sam-dong hunt up a charger, he opened a drawer and tossed the phone in for safekeeping.

He was changing into more comfortable clothes when ahjumma knocked on the door and put her head in.

“I put her in the bedroom your mother always uses,” she said. “I’ll go set the table so you can have lunch.”

“Thank you, ahjumma,” Jae-seung said, and she nodded and withdrew. He finished pulling on a gray t-shirt and left the room. In the hall, he hesitated a moment then walked over to Mi-ah’s door and knocked.

“It’s open,” she called, and he went in to find her sitting on the bed. She got to her feet quickly.

“Lunch will be soon; are you ready to go back downstairs?” he asked.

She looked uncertain.

“I—I would like to take a bath first,” she said. “Could I have lunch here instead? I don’t want to delay your meal.”

“It’s all right, we can wait,” he said.

“But… my clothes might take too long to dry,” she said, and then bit her lip, as if she shouldn’t have said what she did.

“Huh?” Jae-seung asked in confusion.

“I… don’t have anything to change into,” she clarified.

“Oh!” He could have kicked himself for not realizing it sooner. She was still wearing the clothes she’d worn the previous day. He thought about going downstairs and asking ahjumma to lend her some clothes—but on the other hand, ahjumma was busy.

“Just go take a bath,” he said, indicating the bathroom. “I’ll see about borrowing something you can wear.”

She smiled gratefully, and padded across the room barefoot. He realized he’d better do something about slippers as well. But first, clothes. And then he better go have Sam-dong make a list and head out for some shopping.

* * *

“I don’t know why you don’t just ask her what she needs,” Sam-dong grumbled as he made notes. “Or better yet, just take her shopping.”

“Do you want to take her shopping? Because if I do, you’ll have to run interference and make sure I don’t get recognized.”

“That I can do,” Sam-dong assured him. “Where do you want to go?”

“I don’t know, where Mi-ah wants to go, I guess.”

“I heard my name,” she said from the stairs. “Are you talking about me?”

“Finally, lunch,” Sam-dong said in English.

“I’m sorry for the delay,” Mi-ah said hastily. “I hope you aren’t too hungry!”

Both Sam-dong and Jae-seung looked up as she reached the foot of the stairs. Sam-dong gave an odd little cough.

Jae-seung stared. When he’d decided to lend Mi-ah some of his clothes to wear for the meantime, he’d mostly been thinking about whether they would fit her, since she wasn’t really that thin. Apparently they fit all too well in all the right places, although they were too long for her. She has a waist, he found himself thinking stupidly as he took in the sight of Mi-ah in one of his gray t-shirts and sweatpants, carrying the matching hoodie folded over her arm. She was still barefoot.

Ahjumma chose that moment to announce that lunch was ready.

“Your mouth is hanging open, boss,” Sam-dong murmured as he walked past Jae-seung.

“Shut up, or I’ll send you to buy lingerie,” Jae-seung retorted.

Those pants really do fit all too well, he thought as he walked behind Mi-ah to the dining room, trying not to look lower than her waist and failing.




--------------------

Footnotes:

Sajangnim – “Mr. Company President,” “boss”

Hyung – “older brother”, how a Korean male addresses his older brother, as well as older male relatives or close friends who are in the same generation. In this case, Jae-seung uses it to address an older male friend.

Ahjumma - literally, "auntie," an older woman in one's parents' generation.

Noona – “older sister”, how a Korean male addresses his older sisters, as well as older female relatives and close friends in the same generation. Jae-seung is referring to his real sisters here.

Silla – one of the Three Kingdoms of Korea, existing from around 57 BC to 935 AD.

Rang – An officer in the Hwarang (literally, “flower boys”), the elite military corps of Silla, composed mostly of young men from noble families.

Banchan – the side dishes that customarily accompany a Korean meal. They may be as few as three varieties and as many as twelve, including different kinds of kimchi.