Wednesday

“ . . . will be an easy one. It’s just a portrait session, should be done in two hours. You might need three guys for that. On Tues--are you listening to a word I’m saying?”

“Not really,” Jodi answered honestly. She set her mug down on the counter and leaned forward on her elbows with her hands in her hair. “I’m sorry. My mind in busy.” Jodi walked around the island and sat beside SooYoung. “Did the boys get to school on time?”

“Yes. And I dropped your previously estranged husband off at the YG building as requested. Can we talk business now?” The exasperation in SooYoung’s tone was glaringly obvious as she smoothed her magenta fringe.

“Okay, let’s try this again. You have my full attention. . . ish.”

“I’m trying to go over your schedule with you. You know, that thing that tells you where to be and when so that you can get paid. Speaking of which, you have to be at the MBC building in a little over an hour. Don’t forget. But like I was saying, tomorrow you have a portrait session with Kim YoungHa and his family. They should be here at eight.” SooYoung noticed Jodi’s eyes wandering and reached across the island to hand Jodi her coffee. “Friday you have a shoot for Nylon Magazine with the girls from 4Minute—”

“Fashion shoot?”

“Yes.”

“I hate fashion shoots,” Jodi said with a frown.

“We’ve been over this. You may hate them, but they also pay the best. And speaking of pay—” Jodi groaned and dropped her head to the counter, “You need to cut back on personnel, Jo. A large portion of your profit goes to wages. I know where you’re coming from, you want to help out, but you aren’t doing yourself any favors.”

“Can I start by firing you?”

“I’d like to see you try,” SooYoung shot back with a challenging smirk. “On the upside, you’re pretty much out of the red. Being on the show has upped your exposure, you're doing way more shoots in a week, bills are paid, people are happy.”

“Hooray,” Jodi said with no real enthusiasm. “Set up a staff meeting for next month—a paid staff meeting. I’ll talk to everyone then about any changes that need to be made. Anything else you need to keep me posted on, you bodacious budgeter of my business?”

“Yes. You coming to dinner on Saturday? Daddy's cooking and KyuYoung misses you.”

“Wouldn't miss it for the world. You know your brother is my boo.”

“He feels the same way about you,” SooYoung told her with a fake gag. “Have you talked to your mother?” Jodi rolled her eyes. “I’m serious, Jo. Something is off with her.”

“Well, whatever it is, I'm not touching it with a ten-foot pole. The last time I dared to ask about her wellbeing, she told me it was none of my concern. Have your dad ask her, if you’re so damn curious.” Jodi stood up and started to walk to her room. She stopped, though, to hug SooYoung around the shoulders. “Thank you for taking such good care of me and the business. I know you have zero interest in it, but I appreciate you doing it.”

SooYoung put her hands over Jodi’s and returned the hug for a brief moment before shrugging her off. “Yeah, well, just so you know I’m going to give myself a raise as soon as you're in the black.”

“Duly noted.”

* * * * *

Jodi walked into the MBC building, ready to record the interviews that get cut into the episodes. Kim AhJong was waiting for her in the small studio, and smiled politely at her when she entered. The two women had become friendly during the hours of recording. She was respectful of Jodi's wishes pertaining to her family, going so far at times as to shut down the cameras, and put everyone out . AhJong had a job to do, which was produce interesting television, but she was conscious of her editing and context. Jodi really respected her for that.

"What are we talking about today?" Jodi asked as she sat in the chair before the cameras.

"First we're going to cover the footage from Daebu Island, then we'll do the pre-taping for the decision episode."

"Decision episode?"

"It's been three months. You have to decide whether you want to stay on the show or not," AhJong explained.

"I have to decide today?" Jodi asked in surprise. “I thought it was live?”

“The reactions are live,” AhJong corrected. "It will air this weekend. If you decide to keep going, then next week we'll look for dresses for your 100th day photo shoot. Your 100th day is actually the 25th, but we want to shoot early and edit it well. You didn't know?"

"I knew, but—wow, this seems very sudden. Has it really been three months already?" Jodi rubbed her forehead and asked herself where the time went. Had . . . only three months? It felt like she had known JiYong forever, but . . . three months? A lot had happened in those three months.

"How about we skip the reactions for now," AhJong suggested. “So, what’s it like being married to Kwon JiYong?”

“It’s . . . not boring. He's energetic and fun to be around."

"What's he like as a husband?"

"He is someone that I've come to trust and care about. Whatever else he may be to me, I can say he is my friend."

"Is he your ideal type?" AhJong asked with a smirk.

"My ideal type has evolved, and he represents a lot of what I want from a man now.” How very diplomatic, Jodi.

"Are you speaking about his personality, or physically?"

"Personality."

"You answered that very quickly. Do you not find him attractive?" AhJong pressed.

Jodi literally scoffed at the notion. "My husband is a very handsome man. But did I see myself married to a 5'7”, tattoo covered Korean rapper that I'm pretty sure I weigh more than? No. I didn't see that coming."

“Who is your ideal type? Physically, I mean.”

“Mr. Azede, my middle school gym teacher,” Jodi answered with a laugh. “He was tall, dark, and very handsome. He had locks down to his shoulders, dimples, a beautiful smile and a body worth of drooling over. Now that I think of it, every man that I’ve dated has fit a little into that mold. JiYong is different. Not better, or worse, just different.”

"We've heard that JiYong is a very romantic boyfriend, is that true?"

"I have no way of knowing what he's like as a boyfriend, but as a husband he's very sweet and considerate." Not gonna trick me, Jodi thought smugly.

"Do you want to stay married to him?"

Jodi leaned back in her chair and scratched her chin. "What did he say?"

"I can't tell you, and you can't ask him. On the Sunday show, they'll do a recap of your time together and at the end, they'll show your decisions."

"That doesn't help me," Jodi whined. "Can I get back to you?" AhJong shook her head. For Jodi, it really wasn't a tough decision. "Okay. I want to cont