Chapter 7 - December

“Jason-ssi, would you like to join us for lunch?”

Jason looked up at Soomi’s friendly face and at a few of his workmates behind her, then at his computer. 

“Yes, please, Soomi-ssi. I think that would be nice,” Jasonsmiled at her and locked his computer.

The polite smile Soomi brightened to a more genuinely happy one.  Her surprise at his acceptance was almost palpable.  With his drive to prove himself in the company, Jasonhad always politely declined invitations to lunch in order to continue working.  Those in the office soon figured out that, while not unfriendly or purposefully distant, Jasonwas kind, but a bit of a workaholic.  The three others behind Soomi were just as shocked by his acceptance.

“Am I dreaming, or has Jason-ssi finally decided use his lunch break?” A joking voice called.

Jason laughed and ruefully shook his head at the resident joker, “Your friendly face convinced me, Jaehyuk-ssi.”

That got a round of laughter from them all.  They made polite conversation all the way to the elevator and down to the cafeteria floor.  The light hearted jokes and teasing gave Jason a dull ache in his chest.  In all the lengths he went to prove himself in the company, he realised he hadn’t truly bonded with anyone in the year he had spent in Seoul.  Jason inwardly frowned as he watched his workmates interact.  They were all friends, all around his age.  Had he started saying ye to their invitations sooner, he probably would be part of their jokes, rather than a friendly bystander.  All of them made an effort to keep him in the conversation, explaining the background and all. But he knew it wasn’t the same. He had workmates and bright career… And no true friends. 

Nothing could make you lonelier than standing with a group of friends. 

Nevertheless, Jason smiled good naturedly and relaxed amongst them.  It would ruin his carefully constructed image in the workplace to be seen as unfriendly. 

Polite, capable and hardworking, but approachable. That was always the ideal image for any career.

The ding! of the elevator reaching the right floor couldn’t come soon enough.  Jason took a subtle deep breath as he stifled the stirrings of an oppressive loneliness that had tried to creep up on him in the confined space.

When they walked in the cafeteria was fairly busy, with SM Entertainment staff members either stopping by to get lunch to-go or to sit down for a meal with colleagues.  Luckily, it wasn’t so busy that it was packed or noisy, just a nice babble of background conversation noise with plenty of room to walk and empty tables to choose.

“If you would like, I can save us a table while you order,” Jason offered them politely.

“Are you sure? You can always line up with us and we can find a table together afterwards,” Wubin suggested.

“No, it’s fine.  It would be troublesome if you had to hold your lunches and search for a table at the same time.  It would be more convenient to have a table already.”

Jason finished his explanation as his eyes swept the room for one of the large round tables they could use.

“I can come sit with you, if you like?” Riyoung said.

Jason shook his head, “No, please go ahead.  One should never keep a lady waiting on his account. I will be fine.”

He gave her a roguish grin that had her face ablaze.  Inwardly, Jason chuckled at the blush on his colleague’s face, but believed the truth in his words.  His mother would cane him if he kept a lady waiting for no reason than his own choice to delay.

The group nodded their assent and made their way to the cafeteria line, while Jason went back to scanning the room.  Finally, towards the left side of the room was a freshly wiped table.  He could still see the wet streaks of the damp rag they must have used to clean it.  With quick, confident strides he approached it and took a seat where he could face the direction of the door and the lunch queue.

In order to pass the time, and unable to stop himself, he fished out his phone from his black slacks and went through a few work emails that had needed attending to. 

Click clack. Click clack. Click clack.

Maybe it was the sound of high heels on the marble tiles. Maybe it was fate. Or just sheer dumb luck.  Whatever it was, Jason looked up at the precise moment a beautiful young woman passed by his table.

Only to watch her high heels slip on the still wet tiles.  Her expression turned to one of panic and she flailed her arms in the hope of retaining her balance.

Jason stood up and caught her around the waist.  His right arm wrapped around her petite body and held tight against his own. 

“Are you okay, miss?”

“Yeah. Thanks.”

“It’s no problem. The cleaners have just done their rounds, please be careful.”

Jason let go of her, his arms already missing the warmth she offered.  He bowed slightly, given her cold tone of voice, she probably wanted nothing more than to go about her day.

“Sica-ah! Are you okay?” A worried voice called out.

Jason turned to his right as a vaguely familiar woman hurried towards him and the so called ‘Sica’.  He frowned momentarily, but stepped aside to make room for the obviously concerned friend.  Right behind her was a large group of 7 well-dressed women.  Probably one of the girl groups under an SM contract.

“I’m fine, Yuri-ah. Thanks to him I didn’t even fall.”

Jessica pointed nonchalantly at the pensive young lawyer.  Jason jolted when he realised she was referring to him.  He could’ve sworn that he had faded to the background by now.

“Umm… It was-”

“Jessi! You’re not hurt, are you?” A loud voice called out as the rest of the group arrived. 

Jason side stepped once more to get out of the way of the large group all surrounding their exasperated friend.  In rapid fire each one of them were asking after her.

“Guy! I’m fine! That guy caught me before I fell.”

Jessica cut them all off and pointed a manicured finger at Jason.  Once more he froze for a moment. Equal parts stunned and frightened when every one of them snapped their heads to look in his direction.  Again there was that vague familiarity about their faces, but he couldn’t pinpoint it.  He knew no one outside of the Legal Sector and he certainly wasn’t with anyone in the Legal Sector. So… Who were these people?

“It was nothing. I was just lucky enough to be sitting where I could help,” Jason bowed deeply, “Please enjoy the rest of your day.”

He turned away to walk around his table in the direction away from them to avoid a scene.  His only goal was to take a seat and wait for his colleagues and hope that the celebrities left him alone.

“Jason-ssi? Is that you?”

The aforementioned young whirled around in surprise.  One of the taller girls had spoken.  Shorter than himself, but tall enough with a slightly rounded face with a youthful quality to it.  Her tentative question was said in a voice that tickled the very edges of his memory.

“…Seohyun-ssi?”

His reply was hesitant lest he be wrong, but the smile and polite bow that he received in reply reassured him that he was right.

“I didn’t know you worked here,” she commented.

“I didn’t know you did either. How have you been?”

“Well, thank you. And you?”

“The same, thank you for asking.”

Their polite conversation was interrupted by Jessica’s voice cutting through.

“Do you know him, Seohyun?”

“Ne, unnie. He was the one who helped me with the groceries when the elevator at the dorms were broken.”

The rest of them were frowning or looking away in thought.  Jason fidgeted nervously as they each eyed him an unreadable expression.  This wasn’t how the lunch break was supposed to go. It was only meant to be a simple ordeal of eating and bonding a little with his colleagues. Not a possible altercation with a girl group and a reunion with a stranger he had helped out once.

“Wait! You’re the crazy guy!”

The shortest one snapped her fingers in realisation.  All of them stared first at her, then at him and back again.  Disbelief and confusion were the most obvious emotions.  A bead of sweat rolled down his temple as his nervousness grew with each passing moment.  More and more people were looking at them with curiosity.

“E-excuse me?” He spluttered in the most undignified manner.

She ignored his incredulity on favour of explaining to the girls by her side that.

“He’s the one I told you who found me when it was raining. The crazy one who jumped in the rain till he was soaked, just so I would take his umbrella.”

Flashbacks of that one September night came back to him.  The girl who was scared of thunder… What was her name?

“A-are you Sunny-ssi?” was his cautious guess.

“Yep! That’s me!”

Despite being called crazy and the surreal situation, her cheerfulness was infectious.  Jason found himself smiling along with her.  However, he had nothing to say because her fear was hers to speak, it wouldn’t be polite to bring it up in public.  So he let that line of conversation fall flat. Until…

“TTEOKBOKKI MAN!” “TTEOKBOKKI MAN!”

Two of the tallest girls suddenly cried out in excitement.  Both of them grabbed hold of the second shortest girl and jumped up and down in glee.  This time Jason was at a complete loss for words. What one Earth was a tteokbokki man? Some sort of food related super hero?

The doe eyed one began to explain.

“Unnie! He was the stranger who bought us tteokbokki!”

This time the one on the right arm, the taller of the two chimed in with her part of the story.

“Yeah! And he gave food and clothes and money to the homeless guy. Remember, we told you ages ago???”

Jason frowned in thought.  He remembered the homeless man, but he could have sworn he was alone.  It was so long ago that the memory beyond helping the old man was fuzzy.  Fragments of the story became clearer as the two of them recounted their tale.  The kind ajusshi who filled the thermos with tea.  And two young women, who wanted food, but couldn’t get it. 

Aha!

“You were the two who forgot your wallets, but wanted tteokbokki from ajusshi!”

Both of them froze, then blushed a little in embarrassment.

“But how do you know about… Did you stalk me?”

Jason stared at the two of them wide eyed.  Their blushes only deepened with his question.  That was an answer in and of itself.  They definitely stalked him.

“Yah! Don’t say it like that! You make us sound creepy. We were just… Using the same route home and happened to see you,” the tallest of the girls protested with fervent nods from her companion.

“Ah. My apologies, I misunderstood,” Jason bowed to them. 

There was no way he believed a word of that.  The park was out of the way from the route home form the tteokbokki stand.  It was a longer ‘scenic’ route that people don’t often take.  It was hardly likely they did so, but stirring troubles with celebrities was the last he needed to get tangled up in.  His career and reputation were fine as they were, he didn’t want to add any complications that could jeopardise them.

“Where did you say you worked again?”

For the first time he was addressed by the shorted girl in between the tteokbokki stalkers.  They appeared to defer to her a little, most likely the leader of the group and the oldest member.  Though she looked no more than a year older than himself.

“In the Legal Sector, miss.”

A sharp intake of breath was his only warning. What could it be this time? He didn’t even have friends nor did he interact much with people in a social way out side of work.

“YOU’RE YURI’S BOYFRIEND” “YOU’RE THE GUY FROM LEGAL!”

“WHAT?!”

Every girl plus Jason looked at Hyoyeon in outrage.  A myriad of emotions coursed through them.  Trepidation and dread filled the young lawyer the moment her heard those words.  They were like a blow to his gut. The exact kind of drama he didn’t need and didn’t want in his life.  Things like these could ruin his career in this company if it was allowed to escalate.

“He’s not my boyfriend!” Yuri smacked Hyoyeon’s shoulder as the older girl laughed at the havoc she had caused.

Every head turned to look at Jason and he coughed awkwardly.

“I swear I’m not her boyfriend… I’m not even sure how we know each other. This whole thing is actually very strange for me…”

“Yuri hurt her ankle and you and me ran up to your office and got ice for her,” Hyoyeon shrugged her shoulders casually.  As if she had said something very normal and banal like ‘we once bumped into each in the street’.

“Remember when Hyo and I were practising but then manager-oppa had to drive me to get a check-up for an injury?” Yuri asked.

She received a round of nods from the girls around her.  Jason looked around the cafeteria.  Most of them, seeing nothing untoward occurring, had returned to their own conversations (much to his relief).  His workmates, however, were still in the line, chatting amicably amongst themselves, totally unaware of the potential disaster that could occur.

“Jason-ssi, helped us and leant us his phone to call oppa.”

Nods of approval and murmurs of thanks made him flush slightly.  His right hand unconsciously moved to scratch the back of his head just for something to release his restless/nervous energy.

“Um. I was more than happy to help, I’m glad your ankle is better, Yuri-ssi.”

“Thank you. And again thank you for your help that day.”

Jason waved away her bow and reassured her it was the least he could do.  He was just glad he could be of assistance.  Hyoyeon snickered once more.

“Yeah, she was super grateful. Especially when you offered her your jacket to lay her head on. I think hearts nearly popped out of her eyes when you did that.”

“Yah!”

Once more Yuri swiped violently at the laughing choding.  Hyoyeon just ducked out of the way and stuck her tongue out childishly.

“She’s making this up, I swear,” Yuri rushed to say.

“It’s fine, miss. I’m not offended in any way.”

“Ahem!”

Jessica’s irritated cough brought their attention back to the group at large.  Jason gulped nervously as she eyed not only the two girls coldly, but him as well.  A shiver ran down his spine at the icy expression on her face.

“Does everyone here know this guys except for Taeyeon, me and Tiff?”

A collective yes was her resounding answer.

“Actually, I think I know him too,” Taeyeon frowned in thought, “You’re… The coffee guy?”

“Umm… I’m not sure, miss.”

At this point Jason was past the point of ruling out possibilities, it seems he had, by some twist of fate, run into most of the girls in this group already.  What was one more?

“You were carrying a lot coffees and I held the elevator door open for you.”

“I’m sorry, miss.  I don’t remember, it’s not an event that really sticks out in one’s memory,” Jason shook his head apologetically.

Taeyeon pursed her lips in thought, but silently agreed.  Holding the elevator was just something you do naturally out of politeness, not a memorable event like the last few. 

Except… Something did stick out. For her at least.

“Apple juice.”

She looked at him expectantly, but he couldn’t for the life of him figure out what she was on about.

“Sorry, miss. I don’t follow.”

“After I held the door open, you had a bottle of chilled apple juice delivered to the recording studio I was using.”

“Oh wait! I do remember that, you were in Studio B, right?”

He grinned at her as the memory finally clicked into place.  That was the day he had used a bit of detective skills to find her and thank her in some way.

“Yeah. How do you even remember the room code?”

“Oh, I have near photographic memory. If something triggers it, I can usually remember random details like that,” Jason shrugged.

Jessica chose this time to once more cut in.  Absolute disbelief filled her on the inside that there were this many coincidences regarding one man.  Then again, fate had inevitably led her meeting him too.

“So, everyone but me and Tiff?”

Her fellow American born friend giggle cutely.  She smiled a beautiful eye smile and shook her head playfully.  Jason felt his breath hitch when she turned that gaze onto him.  Tiffany had been gorgeous to start with, but the smile brightened her features and gave her an extra factor that could just leave you… Breathless.

“Nuh uh. I know him too, Jessi,” her husky voice sing-songed.

“How?”

“He’s the airport guy! I didn’t realise until he smiled, but it’s the same smile he gave me when I asked for his name and he said-”

“Don’t worry about it. It’s not important…” Jason finished for her.  He gazed at her in wonder, “You’re the girl in pink.”

“That’s me,” Tiffany smiled again and gave a peace sign.

“So you’ve all met this guy before?”

Jessica gazed at each and every one of the girls.

“I guess so, unnie.  Must have been some strange twist of fate,” the doe eyed one, Yoona, said.

Where Jessica’s voice was high and tinkling, and Tiffany’s was husky, Jason couldn’t put a finger on Yoona’s voice.  It was lower than he would have imagined it to be, but in a way it suited her.  Like it resonated in his soul.  He found himself captivated by her beauty and her voice.  It had a timbre unlike any other.

“It’s a bit of a statistical miracle actually, unnie,” Seohyun added, “It’s not like any of the encounters could have been planned. They were all random, but we each met him in our own way.”

As they all stood around either lost in thought about the incredible twist of fate, none of them thought too deeply into it.  Somethings just happened, best to just roll with it.

Taeyeon’s phone beeped with an incoming message.  All of them turned to look at the oldest girl as she read their manager’s missive.

“Time to go girls, oppa says we’ll be late for the interview.”

“What about food?” “What about lunch?”

Sooyoung and Yoona both cried out in dismay.  They turned to look at the lunch line with longing expressions, but Taeyeon shook her head.

“We’ll just ask oppa to get us something. There’s no time.”

Taeyeon turned to Jason and gave a brief bow, which he automatically out of pure habit.

“It was nice to run into you again and to meet you officially. Hopefully, we see you again, Jason-ssi.”

“The same to you Taeyeon-ssi.”

“Wait! Jason-ssi, what’s your number?” Tiffany asked.

“W-why, miss?”

Tiffany giggled again, “So we can keep in touch silly.”

“04XX-XXX-XX1,” He recited dutifully.

The brown haired girl plugged it into her mobile quickly, “Great! We’ll keep in touch!”

Everyone said their goodbyes and wishes to stay in touch.

“It was nice to see you, Jason-ssi,” Seohyun bowed deeply.

“Nice to meet you officially, MR-Kwon-Yuri.”

“Yah! Ignore her, see you around, Jason-ssi.”

On and on they went.  Jason bowed and replied to each one of them sincerely.

“It was nice to meet you officially, all the best with your interview.”

As soon as they were out of the door, Jason collapsed tiredly back in his seat.  He removed his glasses and tiredly rubbed his face.  That was not something he could have ever seen coming, not in a million years.  Someone cleared their throat awkwardly and he looked up, only to be confronted by the sight of his workmates standing by the table with trays of food and expressions of astonishment.

“H-how do you know SNSD?” Soomi asked.

“Who?”

His four friends sat down around the table and exchanged confused glances.

“SNSD, the group of women you were just talking to,” Wubin explained slowly as if hoping they were all on the same page here.

“So they are an idol group?”

Jaehyuk burst into laughter.

“Only one of the biggest Female Kpop Idol Groups in the country and in the company.”

“I… Didn’t know. Sorry,” Jason smiled sheepishly as the four of them laughed at his cluelessness.

Eventually, they sensed his discomfort and fell back into the easy banter of four friends from before.  It somewhat eased his ruffled nerves to have some sense of familiarity back. Though it did come tinged with a hint of loneliness as before.

His phone vibrated in his pocket.  Jason tilted his head to side and frowned slightly at the unknown number, but he clicked on the message anyway.

“It’s Tiffany! Now you have my number too. Also I gave your number to the girls, so expect a bunch of texts in a moment. Hehehe.”

A small smile graced his lips. Maybe he wasn’t so alone anymore.  

Hi everyone! Phew, two chapters in a row! :D Hopefully you like this too. Please comment, don't forget the poll!