so his name is jackson. jackson wang, the taxi driver. the ever-so-kind, ever-so-peniless taxi driver. well, now that sunghyo has calmed herself down and managed to get a grasp of the situation she's in, panic subsides. she surprisingly finds jackson a rather good accompanion although his korean is funny. he says something about originally coming from hongkong, and sunghyo's pretty sure that's where he gets the heavy accent from. jackson told her he drove taxi just because he didn't want to burden his parents. he works everywhere, and will probably drop the driver thing at the end of the month. he says it's too time-consuming. he doesn't tell her all his other jobs though, and she doesn't ask.

 

the thing about jackson wang is that he wears his surname proudly all over his body. in a form of necklace, bracelet, snapback on the dashboard, even a tattoo in his inner wrist. that's almost amusing to see, and he tells her about his parents ricky wang and sophia wang. sunghyo could swear the names ring a bell to her, but there are hundreds of ricky wangs in the expanse of china and hongkong and taipei so she can't really tell. maybe just a coincidence.

 

now sunghyo is changing into more appropriate clothes inside the taxi. jackson has parked it near a convenience store at the end of the road, lurked so well she could strip comfortably. jackson's waiting outside, and sunghyo has threatened him that if he peeks, she'll take back the money deal. talking about money, sunghyo has made jackson agree on paying for her train ticket as well as the clothes she's wearing. nothing much, really. just a flannel and a jeans, but still better than a skimpy night gown. she'll leave for seoul, and once arrives, she'll transfer all the money borrowed with some bonus to the taxi dude's bank account. fair enough, sunghyo decides.

 

"what's taking you so long?" the driver's door opens and sunghyo shrieks, covering her half- leg. the glare she sends jackson is only returned by an eyeroll. "c'mon, i still have other work to do you know. i think i'm quitting earlier than i've planned. few more rides today and i'm out."

 

sunghyo doesn't say anything, just sulking to herself before shoving her leg into the jeans. once jackson makes sure she's fully dressed, he flops himself back on the driver's seat and the old taxi rolls off. a popular girl group song fills the taxi. sunghyo doesn't hold back her laugh.

 

"shut up," jackson half-shouts. sunghyo makes a remark about girly music tastes and she can immediately feel a glare thrown her way. "are you kidding me, this is high quality music!"

 

"you've never heard of bob dylan then. or jimi hendrix," sunghyo remarks with her usual business tone. graceful but demeaning. sunghyo squishes into the shotgun seat, startling jackson in the act. he says something about no manners but sunghyo ignores him. she leans the seat back and rests her feet on the dash board. talking about music reminds sunghyo of her 5th boyfriend in high school. his names is.. crap, why does she have so much trouble remembering ex's names? she shrugs it off and decides it's rather a blessing.

 

johnny—she makes the name up because she can't call an ex anonymous—was the first person to introduce her to good musics. she was too used to the obnoxious k-pop songs playing on every channel on the tv (even mtv) she could memorize every single lyric of every single song even though she barely recognized the singers. johnny, though, he was a pianist. he played good music, and listened to good music also. her monthsarry gift from johnny was a legendary blues band album, and she still keeps it now in her musicroom. maybe. or maybe she has accidentally thrown it away when moving condos? she just hopes she hasn't.

 

"so," jackson clears his voice, snaps sunghyo out of her reverie. she turns to him, observing his profile (not voluntarily though). he is good-looking, sharp jawline and high cheekbones, body also built but sunghyo knows better than to guess it's from gym training. peniless life. his chestnut bangs fall to his eyes and he almost, almost looks as handsome as taecyeon. sunghyo blinks. what the hell is she thinking? this has something to do with the rat she's encountered in the alleyway, she thinks. it messes up her brain in some ways.

 

"i know i look all wild and y and tempting but please, can you stop staring?" 

 

"who the heck is even staring at you?" sunghyo tears her gaze away with a frown, hissing at jackson's completely teasing laugh. ew, she certainly wasn't staring at jackson wang. screw the fat rat and the alleyway.

 

"so," jackson says again, clearing his throat. sunghyo still picks up the teasing tone and stills her gaze on the road ahead instead. the red light looks interesting. it reminds her of an ex— "are you even listening to me?"

 

sunghyo rolls her eyes and finally turns, greeted with a shameless grin she could slap off if the dude hasn't just paid the clothes she is wearing. "don't try too hard to look good. you turn out looking like a chipmunk," she says instead. jackson gives her the finger and she laughs. the green light lits, and jackson turns back to the road again. there is a moment of silence before jackson speaks up.

 

"we're heading to the station right now, and you're alone from there. once in seoul, contact me and i'll give you my account info. you look distraught, so maybe the money can wait until weekend but just pay okay? i need the money. asap,"

 

jackson has given sunghyo a slip of paper earlier. his number is there along with a messily scribbled "jackson wang". when sunghyo said she was left only with a night attire and a teddy, she really was only left with them. no phone, no wallets, not even a penny. wait. that makes her peniless. sunghyo shudders at the thought, wiping it away. jackson throws her a sideway glance that can be roughly translated as, "say yes or i'll drop you off here".

 

"alright alright," she says, rolling her eyes and fiddling with the radio for better songs while ignoring jackson's petty it's girls' day new single! and don't fill my ear with centuries-old songs. for sunghyo, you're not yet complete before blues.

 

when she finds what she wants—even if it's not legendary blues band—she smiles, closes her eyes and drowns herself in the memory of johnny. (a jaebum flashes her thought for a second and she says to herself, no, i'm not going to think about my 12th ex today).

 

🎠🎠🎠

 

when they finally arrive at the train station, jackson quickly takes care of the ticketing and is already sitting on a bench when sunghyo comes back from the toilet, seemingly in a heated conversation over the phone. she had received several weird glances from the girls in the toilet, shameless murmurs of is she that kim sunghyo audible enough to annoy her. yes, maybe she is that popular even busan folks recognize her. she usually takes it in a positive manner, but today she's just not in the mood. a rat on her feet ruined her mood for the entire day.

 

sunghyo takes a seat beside the visibly pissed off jackson, taking the ticket from the taxi dude's pocket and putting it in her own. when she listens to it, jackson is talking in cantonese, a language her dad forced her into studying just because he thought it'd be useful from business purposes. heck, everything sunghyo has learned is for business purposes she forgets the last time she actually studies something outside management and business. not that it matters though. when you become rich, you stop studying.

 

"screw it!" jackson ends the call with a final curse word before indignantly shoving his phone back into his pocket, seemingly not realizing sunghyo beside him. when she elbows him in the waist, he jolts like he's been touched by a ghost.

 

"how many languages do you speak?" sunghyo asks curiously. sure, she speaks in seven different languages at once but hearing it from a taxi driver, well, kinda surprises her a bit even though she's aware jackson's from hongkong. 

 

"heck, you surprised me!" sunghyo snickers and jackson glares at her. really, sometimes jackson reminds her of her brother joking with the dude comes almost naturally for her. they've known for like, two hours? one and a half? yet she feels comfortable enough to not act like she has stick up her . like she does in front of her clients. she kicks the thought away though, shuddering.

 

"well i'm from hongkong, what do you expect?" he smiles rather sheepishly at that, gesturing for sunghyo to stand up and prepare for the train, though she has no carriages. "i can speak english. just because i am broke doesn't mean my parents are. they paid quite a lot for my education, and that's why i don't wanna burden them any further."

 

they walk away from the ticket counter and jackson tells sunghyo about his education. so apparently he's in college, busan national university to be exact and that surprises sunghyo a little. she makes a mental note to ask a driver in seoul if he's enrolled in seoul national university. jackson tells her it's the only thing his parents are paying for, so even though he can barely cover his rent expense and he practically eats all his roommate's meals, he will never have a problem with college fee.

 

by the time jackson finishes his short autobiography, the train has arrived and he quickly ushers sunghyo to the transport. she steps in the train, and is about to bid the taxi dude goodbye before she hears jackson shouts, "don't forget the money, kim sunghyo! i'll haunt you down if you do!"

 

sunghyo glares at him through the closing door and sees him grin, waving shamelessly before his figure becomes a blur. sunghyo only rolls her eyes, hiding a small smile creeping up her face with her falling bangs. sunghyo turns and looks for a seat, ignoring surprised looks and murmurs from passengers that seem to have heard jackson. ah, yes. she forgets for a moment that she's kim sunghyo, the richest businesswoman ever alive in seoul (she's in busan but that's her formal degree, so). 

 

she quickly straightens her pose. walk with grace, smile with pity. you are a success, you have everything. she wipes the goof off her face, wears a placid smile and stares into the distance. she walks like she's on the red carpet.

 

she's that kim sunghyo anyway.