Chapter 4 - Black and white party

* * * *

The following day, life seemed to be back to normal. Minho and Key had gone over the menu with the kitchen's staff that morning as they did every day. Minho had told Sulli once she was done with the order of the day, she should work on the recipes for the new diet/diabetic things and that he and Key would taste them when she was done.

His mother had dropped by and left Hannah at Minho's care since she had to go get her hair done for some fancy party that night, even when she had been the one who insisted on having her granddaughter in the morning every day of the week while Minho was at the restaurant.

Hannah didn't mind being left at Sweetlove, secretly, she liked it way more than her grandma's clean-cut house that always looked like it had been taking straight out of a magazine, everything was always way clean and in order and you could barely believe anyone lived there because things never got messy. Besides, although Minyeon loved her granddaughter but she was always correcting her about everything and the little girl didn't like that one bit either, though she knew her grandma meant well because Minho had always told her that so many, many times.

Anyway, Hannah was happy at Sweetlove, since it wasn't noon yet and they hadn't opened. She was happily helping Minho to stack all the menus and make sure every table had all the condiments and just basically running around the dinning room.

"Sweetheart." Said Minho when it was almost time to open. "Why don't you go to the kitchen and say hi to Sulli, I'm sure she already has some cookies she can give you."

Hannah's eyes grew round and huge in her little face and she practically dashed to the kitchen, leaving Minho laughing.

"Hannah! You came to visit me?" Sulli's voice said from the kitchen as she immediately picked up Hannah while the door swung a bit before closing again.

Minho smiled at that. He was so glad Sulli and Hannah liked each other. Then he heard the front's door bell, which rang every time someone entered Sweetlove.

"We are closed, please come back in half an hour." Said Minho without turning. But when the bell didn't rang again, announcing the departure of whoever had come in, Minho began to turn slowly, a bad feeling clenching his gut.

"So, this is Sweetlove?" Said Eugene. "You finally did it."

"What are you doing here?" Demanded Minho. It seemed to him that he was asking that question all too often.

"I heard about your restaurant and I decided to come by. I know how much you planned for this, so I wanted to see it. It's everything you said it would be and more." Said Eugene as she sauntered over to where Minho was.

"Thanks." Said Minho dryly. "Now leave, you're not welcome here. You're not welcome anywhere around me, as a matter of fact."

"Minho, please, don't be like that. I can explain. I really can."

Minho's voice turned real nasty as he snapped, "Explain what? I got it everything crystal clear! But let's recap if it'll make you happy. Now, let's see how it all this went. Oh, right! Some two years ago you and I were together and we were happy, at least I thought we were happy but perhaps I did have that wrong. Because one day I got up and went to work as usual. It was a fine day at work, I remember that. And then I went home. Back to my adored girlfriend, to only find out the house was empty, all your clothes were gone, you were gone and the only explanation I got was this message on my answering machine from some guy wondering if you were going to make it to the five o'clock fight. Now, I don't think I'm so dim that I need a diagram to understand that!"

"I know it sounds awful when you say it like that but--" Eugene tried to explain but Minho didn't allow her.

"I don't want to hear it. Don't you see it, Eugene? I don't care anymore! I got a kid now, my restaurant and a girlfriend and a hell of a good life. I'm happy, I've moved on. And if you don't like it then that's too damn bad."

And that was all Minho intended to say since he just viciously shoved a chair aside and stalked to his office and shut the door with such force that made the glass in the door shake.

Hearing the noise, Sulli came out from the kitchen with Hannah in tow just to hear Minho's last words and the very loud bang the door of his office made when it closed.

Eugene was still standing there, in the middle of the dinning room, trembling visibly. If she was trembling from rage or sadness, Sulli had no way to know but she suspected it was the first since a second later Eugene fairly shirked,

"Don't think this is over Minho! Don't think it for a SECOND!" And then clearly fumbling, she made her way to the main door walked away.

The dinning room was eerie quiet after that. The whole restaurant was dead quiet, actually. You could even hear the hum of the air conditioner which Sulli had never noticed before.

- - - -

"I told you, there is no way out of it. I've already agreed for both of us." Said Minho as he cleared the dishes. It was the third Tuesday in a row in which Sulli dinned at his house. it was becoming something of a little tradition.

"You should have told me before Minho. It's the Black & White Party." Said Sulli.

"So?"

"So? So, one can't just show up there when one's a little nobody pastry chef!"

"Look!" Said Minho, turning to her. "I'm not wild about going either but my mother organizes it and she requested that both of us have to be there. This party is bigger than any other occasions for her."

"And if I ruin it she'll hate me forever and ever and ever more!" Said Sulli and Minho sighed but refrained from saying that she wasn't exactly on his mother's good side. "I bet she's expecting me to screw it up so she can't hold it over my head."

"Don't be silly." Said Minho, though he knew it was probably true. "Listen, you'll get a pretty dress and I'll put on a tux. And we'll brave the party for about four hours. We'll eat. We'll dance. We'll smile for the picture and then I'll drop you home, just like that. It doesn't have to be any different from the other times we've done this."

Sulli tried to protest again. She didn't want to be the type of girl who said stuff like I got nothing to wear but she really didn't and deep down she knew that The Black & White party was even beyond the power of Krystal's closet.

"I'll buy you the dress." Said Minho casually once he acutely guessed that was big part of Sulli's reticence to go to the party.

"I can't let you do that!" Sulli shrieked loud enough that Hannah down at the living room where she was watching the cartoon gave a little start and ran to see if they were okay. She stood on the threshold of the kitchen for a few moments and seeing that they were fine, she ran back to the couch. Sulli let out a long sigh. "Forget it! I'll find something to wear on my own. I'll figure it out." She said uncomfortable as always when the subject of money was brought up.

One thing was to get a blown up check twice a month and another very different thing was Minho talking about buying her clothes. It reminded her of their agreement, and that always took a toll on her pride.

Sulli didn't regret what she was doing. She needed the money to help her family and in the great scheme of things, she wasn't hurting anyone but most of the time when she was with Minho, she could forget he was paying her for being there. Sulli realized that she had grown to like him and if she didn't need the money, she would have pretended to be his girlfriend for free…. they would be real friends.

And Minho, though he had always been monogamous and by no means an easy-dropping-pants type of guy, he had known and known enough women in his life to understand he was making Sulli uncomfortable. "If that's what you want, fine. But if it's too expensive…."

"I'll let you know if I can't afford it, I'll let you know." Said Sulli and that was just as much as she was willing to compromise.

- - - -

"Hello Sulli!" Said Krystal happily from the other line. She came to a halt when Sulli's reply seemed to be distracted. Yes, she had been thinking over and over about how to get a nice dress for the party without having Minho paying for her.

"What's up with you?" Krystal asked, always going straight to the point.

Sulli sighed, she might as well tell her friend. Two heads think better than one, or so people always say. "I'm going to the Black & White Party."

"Oh my god! That can't be!"

"It can. Minho's mother organizes it and he already agreed for the two of us, so I'm going.

"No way!" Said Krystal but she added hastily before Sulli could think that she didn't appreciate her incredulity. "No, no, I didn't meant to sound like I don't believe you, it's just that… well, I call you to tell you that I'm going to the Black & White party, too! You know, the magazine always makes a feature about it and my boss wants me to write a review on the food and since everyone knows I know all about the local socialites and all that, he wants me to do a review of the event! My first major article!"

"Oh Krys, that's awesome!" Sulli said excitedly.

"Hell, yeah! And now I'll actually know someone at the party!"

"Yeah." Said Sulli with less enthusiasm.

"Wait, you aren't happy. Why aren't you happy?"

"I have to find a dress and I have no idea how am I going to do it. I figure I will take off some from my paycheck but I doubt I can find something on that limited budget."

Krystal remained silent for a moment, now that she thought about it, she had the very same problem. Then her whole face lit and she said cheerfully, "Madam Boa!"

"Madam Boa." Repeated Sulli as if this made all the sense in the world. "Do you think she can?"

"If we move fast, the party is only two weeks away."

"Let me see if I can get off and we'll go right now."

- - - -

Minho wasn't exactly satisfied with Sulli's explanation of she wanted to get off work early in order to meet Madam Boa. He asked if Madame Boa was some TV psychic or something but when he had seen Sulli's irritated expression he had said she was free to go.

"Did he really ask if she was a TV psychic?" Asked Krystal as they made their way to the old part of the downtown area.

"Yeah." Answered Sulli, scanning the streets.

"That's way disrespectful."

"But he doesn't know." Said Sulli.

Nodded Krystal and she sighed before asking, "Has that woman showed up again?"

Sulli knew Krystal meant the elusive Eugene. "No."

It had been two weeks since the incident at Sweetlove. Eugene hadn't come again and Minho, as far as he was concerned that whole yelling match at Seeetlove had never happened. He had been very tense during the days following Eugene's return but he seemed to have calmed down since.

"I tried to ask Key about it but he said he was still in the State when