Monday

“I don't know if that's a good idea,” Jodi said into the phone.

“Oh, come on, Jodi. I think it's a great idea, or I wouldn't have asked you,” Vivian responded. “We've been friends a long time now. You've taken great pictures of me and I want you on the cover. Besides, it's my magazine, I'll do what I want.”

“Well, if you want to have a magazine for more than three months, I suggest you ask someone else to cover it.”

“I want you.”

“Why?! I am the exact opposite of this country's standard of beauty! I have dark skin, my hair is only straight because I burn it with chemicals. My lips are large, and so is my . There's zero gap between my thighs and my face is bigger than my fist.”

“You're beautiful, strong, healthy, talented and intelligent. The point of this magazine is to step outside of the standard. that standard! That standard is why I had to model outside of the country.”

Jodi leaned back in her chair and ran her hands tiredly over her face. “No bull, Viv, does this have anything to do with who my husband is?”

“Maybe a little,” Vivian responded honestly. “Not to be rude, but people only know who you are because of him. But I promise, in the interview, you won't be asked any questions about him. I will not have you referred to as 'G-Dragon's wife'. You are Jodi Cheonsa Oh, Photographer, artist, badass.”

“Yeah, whatever,” Jodi chuckled into the phone. She heard footsteps outside her office door and looked up to see SooYoung, with blonde bangs and mail in her hand. “How about I give you an answer before the end of the week. Will that be okay?”

“That would be lovely. The issue will come out in September, so that would give enough time to have the shoot done and get everything laid out. Think about it, Jodi, and not just the negative stuff,” the model said with a laugh of her own.

“I promise. I'll call you soon.” The two hung up and Jodi swung her eyes back in SooYoung's direction as she sorted mail.

“Who was that?” SooYoung asked.

“That was Vivian Kim, or Kim JiYang. She wants me to cover her magazine '66100' in September,” Jodi responded with a frown.

“You should do it.” SooYoung sat on the couch and started opening bills. “Nice car outside. Is that the rental?”

“No.”

“You bought another car already? Did the bank give you an extension on your credit?”

“No, my husband loaned me the money. Look, I don't mean to be rude, but what are you doing here?” Jodi asked in a rush.

“Did you fire me?”

“No.”

“Then where else would I be?”

“With your family.”

“You are my family.”

“Not according to your aunt.”

“Well, what she thinks,” SooYoung said her brand of candor. “Don't get me wrong. YooJin-imo? I love her very much, but she didn't secretly translate my homework for me. She didn't cover for me when I was late for curfew. She didn't beat up Monica Williams for pulling her eyes back and asking me if I 'rike flied lice'.”

“Monica was a . She had that coming.”

“And you gave it to her for bullying me, because you're a nice person.” Jodi waved her off. “No, it's true. You have been nicer to me than I have ever been to you. And you better savor this conversation because the next time I say something this nice will be at your funeral. You are a nice person, Jodi, and I feel like all of us Baek people have been taking advantage of you. You pay for me to go to college—”

“You work as my assistant, it's not like I'm just giving you the money.”

“Once the twins were old enough to walk, imo handed them off to you to raise—”

“And I've enjoyed every minute of it,” Jodi countered.

“The only reason the restaurant in solvent is because of your recipes—”

“All I did was give some ideas.”

“Jodi! You're a good person and you don't deserve the bull that my aunt has ever sent your way,” SooYoung exclaimed passionately. “I was a terrible, little bastard to you back then. , I'm not always nice to you now, but you never seem to hold that against me. You did little things and I'm sure I never said 'thank you', but I'll say it now. Thank you, Jodi. Thank you for being so good to my brother, and my parents, and our grandparents. Thank you for putting off college so I could go first. You know I never would have been able to afford it otherwise. Thank you for being my cousin and friend.”

Jodi wiped her cheeks. “I'm so sick of you people making me cry.”

“Yeah, well, cut it out.” SooYoung rubbed her own and laughed softly. “To hell with what imo says, Jo, you're family. You aren't getting rid of me that easily. Even if you fire me, I'll still come and work for free.”

“No, you won't.”

“No, I won't.” SooYoung admitted with an unashamed smirk.

* * * * *

Episode 10

There was an unprecedented outcry when the fans of WGM found out that there would be a weekend of shows without the 'Jo-Dragon' couple. AhJong called them in and asked politely if they could film something, anything, on Thursday. JiYong saved the day by making a quick call to Yang HyunSuk, asking they could film in the YG building. HyunSuk said 'yes', of course. That's how Jodi found herself gazing up at the large metal and glass structure, waiting for her husband to come and let her in. He had a short appearance to make that morning and he was running behind. It didn't bother her, though. She had her ipad in her bag, so she sat on the curb and read with the cameras on her. Jodi had only gotten through a page before his white Lamborghini pulled into a parking space.

“Hey, sweet thang!” JiYong yelled as he stepped closer to her. Jodi stood up and he kissed her briefly before guiding her towards the entrance. “You know, it's about time you showed some interest in your husband's work.”

“Yeah, whatever.” Jodi rolled her eyes as she followed behind him. He took her to the cafeteria, showed her a few dance studios—one occupied by Winner—and then finally up to the recording studio. YoungBae and Teddy turned in their direction when the door opened and smiled. She kissed YoungBae on the cheek and hugged him from behind. Her husband grabbed her by her collar and pulled her away with a frown. “Hypocrite. You kiss Luna all the time.”

“But I'm me, and you're you. Your lips belong to me.”

“Caveman,” Jodi called him. Teddy hummed in agreement as she sat at the desk behind him. “Were you guys in the middle of something? We didn’t mean to interrupt.”

“No, no. It's fine. We were just putting some finishing touches on a song for my album,” YoungBae assured her.

“The fangirl in me is thrilled to hear you say that,” she told him with a satisfied smile. YoungBae winked at her and she swooned right out of her seat. Literally, out of the seat. JiYong crossed his arm and ignored her. YoungBae was enough of a gentleman to help her up, once he was finished laughing at her.

“This is why I don't take you anywhere,” JiYong proclaimed with a pout. He sat on the couch in the back and ruffled his hair.

“Oh, you think that was bad?” she said with a smirk. Jodi turned her eyes to YoungBae and Teddy to ask, “So, what was my husband like as a trainee.”

“Aish, he was annoying,” Teddy immediately answered. “'Hyung, hyung! Can you listen to this song I wrote?!'”

“That isn't true!” JiYong defended.

“You did it two days ago!”

“He would fake stomach troubles so he wouldn’t have to help clean,” Youngbae told her.

“Not true!” JiYong defended.

YoungBae raised an eyebrow at him. “Every time someone would present us with a bucket and rags, suddenly your stomach hurt and you would run off to the bathroom for twenty minutes.”

“Well, maybe once or twice . . . “

“You would be sitting on the sink, playing games on your phone! ‘Oh, mianhe, hyung. I just finished.’”

Jodi laughed loudly while she listened to the exchange. The two men went hard on her husband, casting doubt on his supposedly great work ethic. Her poor husband was being attacked, and all she did was laugh. She wasn't sure what made her broach the subject, but she was glad she did. It was hilarious and sure to be good TV. AhJong was proud.

“I think I've finally figured it out,” Teddy said with a satisfied nod.

“Figured what out?” Jodi asked as she looked back at him.

“Who you sound like. It's been driving me crazy, but I get it now. You sound like Scarlett Johansson,” he said adamantly. Jodi laughed that husky laugh of hers and he nodded again, even more sure of his belief. “Seriously, you do! I was watching 'her' and I was thinking about you.”

“Hey!” JiYong called from the back. “No thinking about my wife!”

Jodi shot him an amused look and turned back to Teddy. Before she could counter, her phone rang in her pocket. She was tempted to ignore it because they were filming, but she looked down and saw it was her agent. Jodi excused herself and went to the hallway to answer. The conversation lasted all of a minute before Jodi went tearing back into the studio and jumped on her husband. “Baby! Baby! Guess what?!”

“What?” he asked breathlessly and rubbed his chest.

“That was my agent. A gallery wants to show my work in September!” She bounced with unconstrained happiness. “I'm going to have my first show!”

“An art show? Really?” he asked with a huge smile on his face. Jodi nodded excitedly. “Oh, that's wonderful, honey!”

He hugged her and kissed her cheek. He was happy for her. Jodi was happy for herself. She sent a quick 'thank you' to the Universe. Things seemed to be looking up.

* * * * *

July

Episode 11

Friday

“Are you ready to go?” JiYong asked his wife sleepily from his spot on the couch. It was 6 a.m. and all JiYong wanted was to go back to sleep. He cared not a bit that the cameras were on him.

“Yes, dear. I just had to tie some things up.” Jodi perched herself on the edge of the couch cushion and kiss him on the forehead. She his hair and he nuzzled his face against her hand. They would be flying down to Jeju for a couple’s retreat for this episode and staying all weekend. “Come on, baby. We have a plane to catch.”

Slowly, and with great reluctance, JiYong rolled off of the couch with Jodi’s help. They held hands as they walked to the door. The staffers were kind enough to carry Jodi's bags outside. Bags, because she was staying down there longer than the rest to have her shoot with Lee Hyori. Jodi waited for the camera men to walk out first before locking the door and heading out. In the van, a camera man had already rigged a camera so that it would capture anything JiYong and Jodi did on the way there. All they did was sleep and hold hands across the space between their seats.

To Jodi’s surprise, there was a robust gathering of fans at the airport to greet them. What surprised her more were the ones holding signs with her name on it. JiYong tried to tug her along, but she stopped for a moment to hug one of the guys holding a sign that said, ‘Saranghae, Jodi-yah’. JiYong grabbed her by the back of her shirt again and pretended to fuss at her. To ease the worries of the onlookers, Jodi grabbed his hand to pull him close and kissed his cheek. The screams were deafening.

It was much quieter when they got beyond the security checkpoint. They met up with Hoya and GaEun to grab a bite to eat. TaeHee, Yull, BaekHo and DoHee joined them as they were finishing their coffee. Before they could get too deep into their conversation, the PD’s let them know it was time to board. Hand in hand, the couples made their way to the first class section and settled in. JiYong immediately slipped his sunglasses back on and leaned back.

“You still tired, baby?” Jodi asked quietly. JiYong nodded, lifted the armrest and rested his head on her shoulder.

“I'm sick of being on planes.” Jodi could understand that. He had just gotten in from Japan the day before. She let JiYong snuggle into her side as she made conversation with DoHee across the aisle.

As soon as they stepped off the plane in Jeju, there were more fans to greet them. The couples waved politely before grabbing their luggage and hurrying into the waiting shuttles. They were taken to a very nice duplex with the beach behind it. JiYong frowned when he realized that the women would be on one side and men on the other. And as he watched the staff put up cameras everywhere, he frowned harder.

“Oh, cheer up, love. We're on vacation,” Jodi said to him as she pinched his cheeks. JiYong bared his teeth in a very fake smile, Jodi rolled her eyes and went upstairs to put her things away. He did the same on his side. He was happy to see that he would at least be sharing a balcony with his wife. As he got up there, he was thinking about how easy it would be to hop over the railng and get in bed with her. But then he saw cameras pointing at the outer doors and in the corner of both their rooms. Damn.

The staff rushed them to change clothes before whisking them off to the Seongeup Folk Village for a tour and Cheosun style food for lunch. JiYong and Jodi wore couple outfits and were lightly teased by the others. They didn't care. Not a bit, in fact.

After lunch, they all went on a bus tour around the island. They stopped along the way to get tangerines from a roadside stand. Everyone changed into their swimwear and hung out on the beach for