Jess had mixed feeling about her date with Jiyong. She was certainly excited to see him again. But she was also stressed about the need to ask his help to get Commandor into SFW’s sponsor list. She convinced herself however, that she would be just doing her job. It was not a big deal. They are grown-up people, if he doesn’t want to do it he would hopefully have the maturity to say it and then they could just move on from there. It was not like that was the only reason she was going out with him. Jess made a mental note to make that clear during their conversation. Besides, as much as she hated asking him or anyone for that matter for help, there was no other way to secure the partnership with the SFW organizer, which was crucial to the company’s success in the region. Mark had already pulled all strings he had available, which led them nowhere. It was now her turn to chip into the team’s effort. With growing popularity and exposure of Korean culture abroad, SFW was quickly becoming the most important happening in fashion industry in whole Asia. So she knew she had to do everything she could to make it happen for Commandor and for herself.

Jiyong suggested a restaurant called Candle, a place she had never heard of, but according to Lily it was very famous. The restaurant served only ten couples every night and was very difficult to get a reservation at. Apparently the place was considered the best place in Seoul to make a proposal at. Jess was very deliberate about choosing her clothes for the night. It had been very long time since she felt this nervous about going out with somebody. They agreed to meet at a restaurant as Jess had to come straight from work and she did not want to be seen picked up by anyone. She wore her favorite pastel yellow sleeveless cocktail dress with boat neckline and open back that she covered with blazer in the office. Jess wanted to look effortlessly casual and appropriately chic at the same time. She thought this ensemble did a good job at that and was perfect for the stifling late summer night.

The restaurant was located on top floor of World Trade Center in downtown. Jess was looking forward to seeing the view of the city from that height. She got out of the elevator on 85^th floor and looked around the brightly lit lobby. So far nothing was talking of overwhelming romance. Sandstone walls and floor, large chandelier in the middle. Jess felt a sting of disappointment starting to contemplate that this was just one of those overhyped places with outrageous prices which somehow led people to believe it was special.

She was led to a discreet door on the right side. A big security guy in a flawless black suit opened the door for her with very polite: ‘Good evening, Mam’. Things started to look more promising once Jess stepped inside the restaurant. As the name suggested it was fully candle-lit, so it took some time before Jess’s eyes adjusted to the soft amber light inside. The restaurant was positioned along the west side of the building overlooking Han river and Gangnam-gu on the other side of it. Small tables, perfect for hand-holding, aligned against seven-meter high windows and spaced at a distance from each other, provided both privacy and breath-taking view of the city. The air inside was filled with something sweet and tangy. Jess thought of jasmine, but she could not say for sure. Quiet jazz and delicate whisper of the couples around set a perfect audio background to all the romance taking place inside. Jess was overwhelmed. She let out a small sigh, ‘Okay, lets do it.’

A young, very pretty receptionist took Jess’s blazer and showed her the way. Jiyong was sitting at the furthest corner of the restaurant. The table didn’t have the best view, but was the most secluded in the restaurant. He stood up when he saw Jess and followed her with his eyes while she was walking towards him. Jess felt herself straightening up and raising her chin.

‘Hey, gorgeous,’ he said quietly. ‘You look lovely.’

‘Hey, you,’ Jess answered. ‘You don’t look so bad yourself.’

‘So what do you think of it? This restaurant has best privacy service for people like me. But it is also a very nice place. In fact, this is one of my favorite places in Seoul,’ confessed Jiyong.

‘I can see why. You certainly don’t take any chances on having your intentions misunderstood. This place screams .’

‘Is it too much? Well, we can always get a takeout and go to my place. I can reassure you, it’s much less of a turn on,’ Jiyong was all innocence.

‘Very subtle, Jiyong!’ Jess tried to sound reproachful. ‘Shall we order food? I am starving.’

Keeping his eyes on Jess, Jiyong motioned to the waiter who immediately appeared with menus. She asked if they wanted their drinks first and Jess ordered a glass of lemon soda.

‘Don’t tell me you are not drinking tonight?’ Jiyong sounded sincerely disappointed. ‘It’s Friday night, it’s illegal to be sober on Friday night in Korea.’

‘No. Sorry. I have to work tomorrow. I have a whole pile of reports to make during this weekend.’

‘Hm, you really don’t want to make this easy for me, do you?’

Jess wasn’t sure she could maintain this flirtatious mood, so she looked for a change of subject.

‘How was your tour? Where in China did you go?

Jiyong smiled playfully biting his lower lip showing he understood why she wanted to talk about the tour, but complied with it. They talked about his tour. He entertained her with some stories about crazed fans and incidents during their performances. It occurred to Jess that behind all that glitter of fame it was very similar, very regular kind of work that went into being a pop star: a lot of planning, coordinating, details and deadlines.

‘What about you? What have you been up to during the last month?’

Jess told him about some of the highlights of her past month, about their team dinners and the overwhelming amount of drinking that went into it, about their preparations for the autumn campaign and the problems they were facing. This was the perfect opening for her to ask about the SFW. She hesitated for a while, but then decided to go ahead with ripping off the bandage.

‘Speaking of which. I have one favor to ask. And it would be completely ok, if you say no,’ she started awkwardly. Jiyong raised his eyes from his plate and curved his eyebrow, curious and somewhat surprised. This made Jess hold her breath for a while, but she lowered her eyes and continued.

‘We have been trying to get our company to feature as a sponsor of Seoul Fashion Week, but somehow we just can’t get through the wall of countless checks and confirmations. We have now had nine meetings with the organizer. It seems to be a very tight circle and they are not really willing to let a new kid into their playground. Since you are so prominent in fashion, I thought you might have some connections there who can help us out.’

She raised her eyes and saw that Jiyong was smiling which was a great relief.

‘Sure. I’ll see what I can do,’ he promised. ‘I do have one condition though.’

It was now Jess’s turn to raise her eyebrows in anticipation.

‘You will pay for our next date,’ he had again that mischievous smile on his face. ‘Besides, between the two of us, you are the one with steady income. You know, how it is with kpop idols, we never know when our next check comes. I think it is only fair. What do you say?’

‘I will be very happy to do that,’ Jess said relieved that they were past the awkwardness and she could now focus on the actual date.

At 11pm they were the last ones to leave the restaurant. Jiyong helped Jess to her blazer that was brought by the same receptionist who escorted her to the table. They were walking out of the restaurant when Jiyong took Jess’s hand into his.

‘Oh, we are holding hands now? I thought you could not be seen with women in public.’

‘I told you this restaurant is safe. And this is the only place here that is not under surveillance,’ Jiyong whispered pointing at the ceiling. They were alone in the middle of restaurant’s narrow hallway.

They walked half way through the hallway in silence when Jiyong pulled Jess’s hand turning her to face him. He looked intently into her eyes and asked: ‘So how do you see this going from here?’

Jess was caught off-guard. She had not anticipated anything like this come up so early in the process.

‘Uhm… Well, I think we should probably get to know each other a little more,’ she mumbled hesitantly. She thought it was a great answer. It was perfectly evasive: not rejecting the possibility of the future and at the same time not promising anything tangible.

‘Sure,’ said Jiyong nodding his head thoughtfully. ‘That sounds like a good idea.’ Then he pulled her closer looking down in her eyes. ‘Well, since we are getting to know each other, I might as well give you something else to think about.’

He wrapped his arms around Jess and kissed her. Softly with his arms holding her tight next to him. One of his hands slipped under her blazer and her back. It was a lingering, consuming, absolutely delicious and perfect first kiss.

‘Your back has been driving me crazy this whole evening. I had to feel it,’ Jiyong whispered when they were standing their foreheads pressed against each other, deeply breathing in and out in sync.

The door opened and they saw Jiyong’s bodyguard tentatively peeking in.

‘Well, I had really nice time, Jessica Wiley,’ Jiyong said cheerfully pulling away from Jess. ‘I am already looking forward to our third date. And, may I just say: I would like to be swept off my feet.’

Jess hastily reassured that she will arrange something nice for them. She thought of what he said and something struck her as odd.

‘Hold on. Did you say our third date? Wasn’t this our first date?’

‘Are you forgetting about our date in London?’ Jiyong attempted to sound nagging.

‘Oh, that! I didn’t think that was a date!’

‘Well, it was in my books. I am counting it all, my lady,’ Jiyong finally made a sign to the man and he approached with two black caps in his hands. ‘Could you please put this on? This is just in case paparazzi is waiting for us in the parking lot. Parkings are always kind of dangerous.’ His voice sounded apologetic.

He let go of her hand and they walked out of the restaurant wearing black caps and escorted by the two bodyguards. It was awkwardly quiet in the elevator. Jiyong looked at Jess and quickly squeezed her hand. ‘It’s weird, huh?’

They were standing at the back of the elevator behind the two wide backs of his men.

‘Yea, I’ve got to say I am not used to avoiding publicity. In my job we always try to get into the spotlight, not away from it,’ said Jess.

‘Believe me, it’s not the kind of publicity you want to get,’ Jiyong sighed. ‘Not in Korea anyway.’ He had arranged two cars for them, one of the bodyguards was taking Jess home. Just before the display above elevator door showed that they reached their parking floor, Jiyong turned to Jess and asked: ‘So, I will see you soon?’

Jess had only time to say: ‘Sure!’ and elevator doors opened. He gave Jess a quick nod and stepped out of the elevator following his bodyguard. Jess and her driver continued to the lower parking floor.

‘Smart,’ Jess thought to herself. They had parked cars on different floors so that they would not have been seen on the same parking lot coming out of an elevator together. Though Jess admired the sense of importance, she felt slightly uneasy at the thought that every meeting with Jiyong would need such profound security precautions.