He was tired of trying to please those who can’t be pleased.  His mother insisted he do everything his father said so father would have no complaints about his ability to take over father’s empire someday.  Did he want this empire?  Hell yes, in the worse way.  His dad loved to pit his sons against each other and would do so until he was on his deathbed.  Old son-of-a- – he was as mean as a cobra and twice as deadly.  He suspected his father did not have real feelings toward his brother or himself.  The only person he really seemed to be fond of was some pseudo-niece that lived in New York City thousands of miles away.  Not that his father truly loved her either but he couldn’t quite figure out the relationship.  He suspected one of several scenarios were true:

1.  She was his love-child (he sniggered at the thought of the dried up prune of a father ever being in that sort of relationship)
2. He was being blackmailed to take care of her (now that is closer to the image he has of his father)
3. She might be a friend’s daughter (he sniggered again at the thoughts of his father having friends)
4. The one he liked the best is she is the daughter of an underworld figure that was forcing his father to hide her and take care of her or the underworld figure would release some sort of information against his father (if he was going to have an imagination why go small?)

He walked out of his office to the consternation of a half dozen employees.  Why do they always do that?  If he needed someone he would ask but this constant groveling was getting on his nerves.  It was really getting on his nerves.  He stalked off toward the escalators and looking back growled, “Go back to work.  I don’t need an .”

He roamed around the different store levels.  He was trying to perfect his stalking skills.  Not that he needed them he just wanted to see how his employees treated paying customers.  No matter how his father did things or what his father said he still thought what the customers said and their experience shopping was important.  If the customer is happy they will come back.  His father only saw the bottom line and to hell with making shopping for the customers enjoyable.  He wanted to do things differently and he had to fight to get approval every day.

He heard a commotion and went to see what was happening.  He walked around a corner and saw his ex-pain-in-the- girlfriend no that was ex-finance.  She was berating a sales clerk for not finding the correct purse for her.  The sales clerk was in tears and there was no way Cha Soo would let this go.  She would want to see blood or at least throw her weight around. 

Taking a deep breath, he exhaled and walked over to the clerk.  “Is there a problem?”  The clerk had tears in her eyes and was fighting against letting them loose.  “Cha Soo what a pleasure it is not to see you.  Why are you torturing my clerk?  She is saying something bad to you?”  He looked at the clerk’s tag and said, “Ms. Lui please take a break and allow me to help Ms. Cha Soo find what she is looking for – go along now.  Have a cup of tea and come back in 30 minutes.”

He turned to Cha Soo and said, “Now what?  Do you wish to torture everyone that you take a dislike to?  Can you just keep the hate focused on me instead of someone who can’t afford to tell you what they think of you?”

“Honestly, I just wanted to see if you would come running to save one of your precious sales clerks.  Such Bull-, Min Ho.  You are such a ….a….anyway, I still hate you.  I don’t want you anywhere near me so go away and find someone else to help me.”

“Oh no, Ms. Cha, I really feel the need to help you.  So, now what did you want to look at again?”  He was so syrupy sweet Cha Soo grabbed her purse and left.  She flounced out of the store knocking into people as she went.  She was an obnoxious 3^rd generation chaebol daughter.  She was beautiful but her soul was ugly.  Min Ho had yet to meet the girl who could make his heart flutter and want to stay by her side.  Maybe she didn’t exist he was thinking.

He had returned to the second floor to check a new shipment of crystal when he spotted one of Korea’s leading ladies looking at fine crystal.  Actually there were two of them.  So he made his way to them and introduced himself asking if he might help them.  They giggled and flirted.  He ended up actually helping them.  He liked flirting with the stars and idols because it passed the time and gave him an idea whether he could get a girl’s attention. 

His phone beeped and he checked his message.  It was from a detective agency he had hired to investigate the mysterious girl his father supported.  He was on the escalator to the top floor.  He liked to watch shoppers as they ventured about the store to try and guess what they were looking for and he was sometimes successful.  He looked across at the escalator going down and saw the most amazing creature he had ever seen.  Who is that woman?  She was beautiful.  And she had the look of a regal princess.  Her head was held high and she carried herself as if she were worth looking at – he needed to see her again.  By the time he got to the top of the escalator and then back down to the floor she was going to she was gone.  He went to the security office to watch the individual scenes from her escalator ride.  She had gotten off on the bottom floor, walked out the door and into a very classy sports car.  There was a driver but he couldn’t make him out.  Well, looks like she was already taken.  Of course she was because a woman like that is hard to find and once found the man doesn’t let go.

Min Ho flopped down in his seat and pushed the paperwork in front of him away.  He was only 23 years old and he was stuck in this huge conglomerate of a business his father and uncles owned.  He was the only male heir but there were more than one female in the family lines so why couldn’t they take over or help run Lee Limited Incorporated?

He had a dream but his father had squashed it.  Or his father thought he had squashed it.  He wanted to model maybe even act.  He had been in a few dramas and he wanted to do more.  His father had told him if he could successfully stay with the company for one year while continuing his university studies he would allow him to sign with an agent and pursue modeling and acting.  He was sure his father had figured a way to use him for his benefit once he established a hold in the acting world. 

He didn’t go home because he just didn’t want to see his mother and father or listen to their crap over and over.  He thought he would call his best friend and see what he was up to and maybe hang out with him.  II Woo was celebrating a modeling contract and invited him to join.  All he needed was an invite. 

He made his way to the hotel where the celebration for II Woo and a couple of other models is being held.  He liked watching from an advantage point that others didn’t have.  So he was standing to the side of a large mirror.  He can see out into the room without anyone knowing he is scouting the room.  He sees II Woo searching for him and then spotting him.  He walks over and said, “You really should just mingle around and see what everyone is up to and maybe you can hook up with a girl for the night.”

“Nope, not interested in those one night stands you like.  But I am not against a little fun you know.  I’ll make it out into the crowd in a bit.  I just want to watch for the right prey so to speak.  Go away before someone spots me.”

II Woo shook his head and went back out to talk to some beautiful people.  There were some gorgeous ladies there but too bad they were all plastic reinforced.  Pity when natural isn’t good enough.  Now what was the name of the girl coming with what’s his name actor tonight?  Hummmm he heard she was young but beautiful and natural.  That would be interesting, really interesting.

Shin Hye usually didn’t go to these sorts of parties.  She was 19 but she would be 20 in another month.  She really wanted producers and agencies to take her seriously.  She had a few works under her belt but was so lacking.  It was a hard road to climb.  Luckily she had another screen call to go to Monday so she needed to stay calm and pray.  She was doing some yard work when she got a call from her friend, Jang Geun Suk.  She had modeled a cosmetic brand with him and they became friends.  She rather thought he might like her a little more than friends but she wasn’t sure.  She was too young anyway.  She had acted in music videos, a movie, several dramas and lots of commercials.  Her reviews were good but she was young and just starting out so she was as yet an unknown.  But she was trying. 

Her background was weird.  She was an orphan that grew up in New York in the States.  She was told her father was alive but in prison.  She didn’t know if it were true or not because every time she tried to investigate she ran into a dead end.  Her father had a friend in Korea who made sure she had everything she needed.  She was schooled in both Korean and English curriculum.  It was exhausting.  In America she went by Alice Park.  In Seoul, South Korea she went by Park Shin Hye.  She had been told since she was five years old to never let the 2 world collide.  So she was an enigma in South Korea.  She had another family that she lived with when she was in Korea.  She wasn’t adopted but they treated her like she was their daughter.  Someday she would put all the pieces together and figure all this out about who she was and why she had to keep secrets.  She didn’t even know the name of the man who she called Uncle only his telephone number.

Geun Suk, who she called Sukkie as a nickname, told her he wanted her to go to a party with him.  He told her she would recognize a few people there because she had worked with them before.  The main reason he wanted her there was to be seen because she was working hard to break into Korean entertainment.  He told her he planned on talking to a few people who could help her career and she needed to be there just in case.  He told her to dress nice.  She didn’t want to dress like a 16 year-old and she didn’t want to dress in something that would be considered provocative.  She finally settled on a light wool shirt waist dress.  It was a dark red and showed off her tiny waist perfectly.  She added a pair of beige heels and pearl earrings.  She brushed her hair till it glistened and let it fall loose.  She hoped she looked her age and looked demure. 

Sukkie drove his new sports car to the hotel.  He was captivated by this young starlet.  She was different than the other stars he had met.  She knew her mind but used kind words when she spoke.  She was gorgeous but she was a natural beauty.  She had little flaws that came together to make one very y girl.  What, he thought, grabbed him from the first was how sweet she was – she was nice and pleasant.  She tried to get along with everyone and he had yet to hear her say something negative about anyone.  How could he not be attracted to her?

When Geun Suk entered the room he gained attention.  He was known within the industry as hard-working.  Everyone knew the boy could sing and dance.  So he was always being offered roles but he tried to be picky.  He was looking for the right role and would know it when he saw it.  He had a casting call for Monday and would wait to see how that went,

Everyone looked at the beautiful girl beside Geun Suk.  Several females went over to greet her as if they knew her.  She had worked with a lot of different stars and she tried to stay friends with all of them.  Her friendliness was one of the reasons she was popular.  She was popular with the guys too.  Well she was beautiful for one thing but she was fun to hang around so they wanted to be friends with her. 

Min Ho was watching them come in.  Ah-ha, he thought, there is the woman I saw on the escalator.  So that is Geun Suk.  I’ve seen his work and see him in dramas.  Now who is the lady with him?  She looks familiar. I think maybe I saw her in a drama or something.

He watched as she mingled with the guests in the room.  She was cute.  She was too cute.  He tried to stop watching her but just couldn’t seem to make his eyes stop following her.  She seemed to know everyone and they all seemed to genuinely like her.  Well, he thought, it doesn’t mean I like her.  In fact, I think I won’t like her. 

He waited until II Woo had zeroed in on her and while II Woo was talking to her – no make that flirting with her, he approached her; he stopped beside her and looked from II Woo to her.  “So” Min Ho said, “I suppose you are an actress or something?”

II Woo smiled.  Ha, he thought, that will cost you points with her.