After I changed out of my hospital gown, I was beyond exhausted. I was dragging my feet along the hallways of Chungnam Hospital. I walked into Dad’s office and slumped on the couch.

“So, How were your tests? Did you find time to eat?” Dad asked from his desk.

“Grabbed a sandwich in Starbucks…And hmmm…They said to come back when they call… I didn’t really ask…Didn’t want to get too into it…Too tired…Need sleep…” I kicked off my shoes and found a comfortable spot on the couch. I covered my eyes with my right arm to block the bright lights.

“Go ahead and take a nap. I need to make my rounds in a few minutes but I’ll be here finishing a pile of paperwork when you wake up.” Dad got up from his desk and grabbed a thin blanket from one of his drawers. He draped it on me and my hair.

“Hmm, Ok.” Then I drifted to sleep.

_____________________________________________________________

I woke up and stretched my arms. I yawned and looked at my watch to check the time. It was 3:15 in the afternoon. I groaned and slumped back down. I had almost 5 hours of treatments and tests but only an hour of nap time.

“Hey, if you’re going to keep sleeping, I’m just gonna step out and grab some coffee. Want some?”

I shot back up and looked around. “Shinhwa-oppa?”

I rubbed my eyes and checked again. He was smiling on the couch across from me.

“I asked him to pick you up and send you off to your Mom. She’ll be waiting for you at the restaurant in the Lotte Hotel for dinner. It seems she wants to celebrate your recovery.” Dad said but his eyes never left the documents on his desk.

“What? Why? It wasn’t even that serious. You guys are over reacting.” I was tired and all I wanted to do was go home and call it a day. Dad looked up from his paperwork and pouted. Uh…I can’t resist the pout.

“Hyo Jin-ah, you are our only daughter and only child. We treasure you deeply and what happened yesterday was like a wake-up call. It was a terrible feeling, you know? Being a doctor and not being able to help our only daughter when she was in pain. You mean so much to us and we were so worried. I know you don’t like going to these kinds of dinners but do this for your Mom and I. Please.”

“Dad…” His words were so sweet and his pout was too hard to resist. “Okay, fine. I’ll do it. Sheesh! You don’t even like fancy dinners, Dad.” I sighed, got off the couch and walked towards him. I hugged him and he hugged back.  

“Did you mean that?” I pulled back and looked him in the eye.

“Of course! I’m surprised you even have to ask!”

I smiled brightly and hugged him again.

“Come on. Let’s go get ready!”

“Oh…Did I forget to tell you? I can’t go. Too many things to do. Sorry, Honey.”

“Dad!” I whined.

“Don’t worry! It’ll be fine. Mom is working right now but if she arrives at the restaurant and you’re not there…You know that won’t be good.”

I sighed and heard Shinhwa-oppa laugh from behind me. I kissed Dad on the cheek and sulked towards the door. “Come on, Oppa. The faster we do this, the better.”

“Take care of her, Shinhwa-yah.”

Oppa bowed and smiled at Dad. “I will, Dr. Shin.”

“And take pictures!”

Oppa laughed and pushed me out the door before I could whine some more.

­_______________________________________________________________ 

I sulked in the car and sighed. I heard Oppa’s phone beep.

“Okay… you are not gonna like this…” He said as he read the message.

“Why? What is it?” I looked at him and narrowed my eyes.

“Mrs. Shin just texted. She made an appointment at L'arche…The salon…”

“No!” I grabbed the phone from his hand and read the message.

“That’s not all… she sent her assistant to the salon…with a dress…with accessories…and HIGH HEELED SHOES!”

“NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!” I whined. I squirmed in my seat and covered my face with my hands. Oppa laughed at me. He added that dramatic moment on purpose.

“If you resist, me and the stylists are ordered pummel you to the ground. So, don’t try anything funny.” Oppa grinned while typing in the address of the salon into the GPS.

____________________________________________________________________

“We’re here. Come on! Didn’t you hear Dr. Shin’s speech? You’re doing this for them!” Oppa said. He was standing outside my side of the car. He grabbed my arm and pulled.

 “Fine!”

 “Oh, by the way, I’ll be leaving you here for a while. I need to drop by school for a bit.”

I tried to whine when he put his hands on my shoulders and pushed me towards the salon. “No! Oppa, you can’t leave me! What if someone comes and kidnaps me? Or worse! What if the stylists start putting make-up on me?!”

“Ms. Park! You’re here! Let’s get you ready!” One of the stylists pranced towards me.

Oppa smiled at the stylist and pushed me towards her. “Bye, Hyo Jin-ah! See you later!” He waved and ran out the door.

“Oppa!” 

“Ms. Park, here are the styles Mrs. Shin has chosen for you…with our recommendations, of course. Here is the dress…the shoes…the hair…and the makeup… your mother has informed us of your possible reluctance to do this so if have any complaints, just tell us. We always consider the clients style first and foremost.”

They showed me the styles but I just pushed the clothes and the pictures away and sighed.

“No. Just do what you want with me…” 

They smiled at me and nodded. I closed my eyes and let them go on. I followed them around and just did what they told me to do. 

“Miss, we’re done. You can open your eyes and if I do say so myself, you look extremely beautiful.”

I opened my eyes.

Hair, dress, makeup, and accessories:

Whoa. I look hot! Well, this was unexpected.

And then I remembered the dinner. I pouted, whined, and stomped my heels.

“Now, now, don’t ruin the nice stylist’s, makeup artist’s, and hair dresser’s work.”

“Oppa! Look! I’m pretty!” My mood changed immediately and I twirled around for him. 

Oppa and the other stylist laughed. He patted my head, thanked the stylists, and pushed me towards the exit.

­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­_________________________________________________________________________

“Come on! Your mom’s waiting!” Oppa urged me out the door.

“I’ll pick you and Mrs. Shin up later. Just call me when you’re finished!” Oppa called out from the car window.

Sigh… I put my hand against the car and begged.

“Oppa, please don’t leave me here!” All he did was laugh. “At least come with me!” 

“Nope. Now, remove your hand and get inside. You’ll freeze out here.” 

I pouted and did what he said. I waved goodbye to my last chance of escaping. I watched as he drove away and pitied myself silently. I shook my head, stood up straight, and raised my chin.

Just take a deep breath…

 I confidently walked into the hotel and saw people staring at me and whispering. Some were wearing suits. Some were wearing casual outfits but carrying heavy bags. Reporters and photographers? Wow…This place is crowded. I wonder what’s going on tonight. No! Hyo Jin, you have bigger problems!  

I ignored them and thought about how I would get through tonight. I rode the elevator, walked into the restaurant, and looked for Mom. I saw her waving at me from a table near the window. I skipped towards her and smiled brightly. Even though I hate fancy dinners, I loved spending time with Mom. She was so sweet and fun.

“Mom!” she laughed and hugged me.

“Dear, you are so beautiful!!! I should have done this a long time ago! We must go shopping tomorrow!”

I laughed and we sat down. We ordered and talked for hours. We talked about everything. Everything but what happened. I felt like she was saving it for last. After we finished eating, Mom ordered a glass of champagne and a glass of sparkling cider for me then looked at me with a sly smile. 

“Hyo Jin-ah…Shall we talk about those boys last night? Hm… Come on! I’m dying to talk more about it. When and where did you meet them? Taemin-ah is so cute. You two looked so close! It was so cute! Seeing you two laying there together, him your hair, and you sleeping on hi….”

“Whoa! What?! You spoke to them? I don’t know them, Mom. We didn’t even get to introduce ourselves to each other! I broke down before anything could have happened. How do you know his name? What happened?!”

“Honey! Calm down. Shhhh… let’s see…We didn’t get to talk much. They had to leave. They said something about a practice they had to go to. While Shinhwa carried you to the car, I spoke to them for a little while. They introduced themselves and they were very respectful and very good looking…”

“Mom!”

“But they were! Key and Taemin…Anyway, that Taemin boy…He seemed really worried about you. You were holding on to him so tight. I thought you two were friends. I didn’t realize you just met that day.”

“Oh, god, that is so embarrassing.”

“Dear… You should find them. And thank them! I will help you!”

“NO! I mean, there’s no need to go through so much trouble. I know I should…but I don’t even know them! All I have is a name.”

“Don’t worry! I’ll take care of everything! Now…Oh, the champagne is taking quite a long time, isn’t it? Before it arrives, why don’t you go fix up your make up in the restroom? I’ll just be here waiting.” She smiled brightly and handed me my purse.

I looked at her weirdly and gave up.

I picked up my purse and walked out of the restaurant. Not knowing where the bathroom was, I wandered around till I was lost. I ended up in some empty hallway. As I was about to turn a corner, I bumped into someone and fell to the ground.

“I’m so sorry! Are you hurt…?” I heard a guy’s voice say. I pushed my hair away from my face. I opened my eyes to see a hand held out for me. I took it and he pulled me up.

“Uh…No. I’m fine. Things happen. Don’t worry.” After I dusted off my skirt and straightened it out I smiled brightly and looked up.

“Hyojin-ah?”

Taemin…My face changed quickly from grateful to shocked.

A man came up from behind him and cleared his throat.

“Excuse me, Taemin-shi. The rest of the members are waiting in the green room. The reporters are starting to enter the conference hall. Please get ready.”

“Ah, Ok.”

Before the man pushed him away, he looked at me apologetically.

I blinked a few times to collect my thoughts. I suddenly realized that I looked ridiculous just standing in the middle of a hallway alone.  I finally spotted a bellboy and asked for directions to the closest powder room. He led me there and I thanked him for leading me and bowed towards him. The closest restroom was right next to the restaurant. Unbelievable.

I went in and admired the room. It was a bit too extravagant. I fixed my makeup and brushed my hair till I looked as pretty as I did this afternoon. I sighed and sat down on the lounge chair in the middle of the powder room.

“Dear?!” Mom entered the restroom and looked around to find me. “There you are! Why did you take so long?”

“Oh, I kinda got lost.” I smiled bashfully as she came into the room.

She took one look at my hair then smiled. She walked over to me and led me to the mirror.

“Mom, the weirdest thing happened. I ran into that guy from yesterday.”

“Oh? Dear… I kind of did something behind your back…I knew you see him.” she said while fixing the clip on my hair.

I looked at her with a confused face.

How’d she know Taemin was here? And then I knew. I put everything together. She brought me here to see him. She dressed me up to see him. She knew he would be here.

“Mom …” I whined “Why?!”

“I told you I would help. He left me his number yesterday so I could call him when you got better. When I called him after you left this morning, it seemed like a perfect opportunity to get you two kids together! Come on! I love doing this! It's exciting and plus he’s here! I know you want to talk to him. I know you too well.”

“Fine!” Sigh…this week is just not my week!

“Great! So…I’ll just be going now. Tell me everything when you get home!” 

“What? You’re leaving me here?! Alone?!”