Chapter Eighteen

Jinhee finally did as Doojoon suggested and started texting Jong Hyun first. They’d been texting for a few days, though neither asked to meet up.

Jinhee and the rest of the group were leaving the school, as were all the other students who didn’t have club activities that day, when they were stopped in front of the school entrance by a platform stage of sorts. It was makeshift, but the effort was clearly there. On the stage was a guy with his back to the exiting students. Jinhee smiled widely when she recognized the back of the guy and noticed the magic trick props around him.

“Jong Hyun?” Jinhee pushed her way forward to the stage, though the audience area was crowded with other students. Her lips quirked into an amused smile at the situation.

“Jinhee?” He glanced over his shoulder at her, “Sorry, could you wait a minute. I’m not ready. This is really nerve racking.”

“Okay.” She nodded and watched as he took a few deep calming breaths. The rest of the group shoved their way forward to stand behind her at the bottom of the stage.

“Alright!” Jong Hyun turned around with flair. “Welcome to my once in a blue moon magic show.”

“This is your blind date guy right?” Haneul asked. Jinhee nodded in response, not looking away from Jong Hyun on stage.

“Oh, he is cute.” Jiwon and the other girls approved.

“Like all magicians, I need a pretty assistant!” A bunch of girls, who also approved of his looks, volunteered. Jinhee smiled and simply stared up at him. “You!” He pointed at So Eun. “You, pretty girl, shall be my assistant.”

“Me? Not her, but me?” So Eun verified that he didn’t mean Jinhee, but in fact her.

“Yes. You.”

“That’s right! My girlfriend is the pretty girl magician’s assistant! She’s awesome!” Ki Bum grinned and announced to the rest of the crowd. So Eun hesitantly made her way onto the stage.

Jinhee and the others watched the magic show, clapping happily at all the trick.

“And for my last performance! Please pull on this string.” Jong Hyun pointed to a string hanging above So Eun’s head. He chuckled at her expression when she pulled the string and nothing happened. “Sorry, nothing happens. You follow directions really well. Thank you. Now could you bring Miss Ahn Jinhee up to the stage please?”

So Eun beamed and dragged her club president to the stage. “Here she is.” She practically shoved Jinhee into him.

“Thank you.” Jong Hyun smiled and turned to Jinhee. He proceeded to do a magic trick which involved paper and fire. Then he asked her to check her pockets. Jinhee was surprised to find a sealed envelope in her blazer pocket that wasn’t there before. “Please open it read the contents to the audience.”

Jinhee did as she was told.

“ ‘To Ahn Jinhee,

Do you like me? Yes or no?

If yes,

Would you go out on a second date with me?’”

“We could also call it a proper first date.” Jong Hyun smiled.

Jinhee laughed, “Yes, I like you. Yes, I would be honored to go on a proper first date, second date with you.”

“Here, for you.” Jong Hyun magically presented a bouquet of flowers to her.

She grinned and accepted the flowers graciously.

“He could have just simply asked her out. This is just showing off.” Dongwoon grumbled bitterly.

“Doesn’t Jinhee not like cutting flowers?” Doojoon asked.

“Yeah, but she’s the kind of person that smiles and accepts all gifts.” Dongwoon sighed. “Even if she doesn’t like it, she genuinely appreciates it when people give her things.”

“Jinhee grew up with this strange belief that everyone else was poor, so when they gave her things, it was precious because the person giving it to her spent their food money to give it to her. It became a habit for her to buy food for others after accepting time or any other thing from them. She knows now that that’s not the case, but she likes doing it. She’s funny, huh?” Junhyung chuckled to the others.

“Why did she think that?”

“Her older cousins from branch families decided it would be funny to tell her twisted things when she was four. She figured things out when she was five, but didn’t care. She saw no reason to stop buying people food. She’s a good girl.” Dongwoon smiled sadly at the girl grinning and chatting to the guy on stage.

“Did you set this up by yourself?” Jinhee asked Jong Hyun.

“Well, I hired some guys to build the platform – I’m no carpenter.”

“Yeah, I didn’t peg you for one. So this is why you’ve been so aloof?”

“I had to figure out a good way to ask you out properly.” He nodded. “When you started texting me – that was great. It was a sign that you didn’t think I was pathetic or unlikable. That gave me confidence to ask you out. You’re really nice and all, but you don’t strike me as the type that would talk to someone you didn’t like.”

“Well, in this world, I do have to talk to people I don’t like because of work and other things – but I don’t text people I don’t like.”

“Right. So I came up with this plan – you said you wanted to see some of my magic tricks, so this seemed like a wonderful idea. A magic show and a question.”

“It was an absolutely wonderful idea. You also read me for the type that wouldn’t be so heartless to reject someone who asked me out in front of a crowd and put so much effort in it. You know, I have club activities some days, what would you have done if I didn’t get out until late?”

“Okay, now this may be creepy, but I documented which days you would answer my ‘What are you up to?’ texts with ‘Club activities’ and figured out your club day pattern.”

“A little creepy.” Jinhee nodded. “But resourceful I suppose.”

“How would you have figured this information out if you were in my position?”

“Call my assistant to figure it out.” She said bluntly. “I have people. But it’s really cute that you did this yourself. The effort is noted and appreciated.”

“Thank you. I hope you understand stepping back on high school property was a big deal for me. I had a pretty bad time in high school. Bad memories in places like this.”

“And now you come back with all these high school girls thinking you’re good looking and loving your magic tricks.”

“Did this high school girl think I was good looking and love my magic tricks?” Jong Hyun smiled.

“This girl thinks you’re alright. Now let’s get off this stage, people are still watching us. It’s awkward.”

“Ah! You’re right.” Jong Hyun led her off the stage and the people he hired immediately went in to take it apart and clear the area. He stared at her awkwardly.

“This is where you tell me what you’ve planned, or not planned, for the upcoming date. It would also be nice to know when the date is. Or, you can leave and text me the details.”

“Oh! Okay! I’ll go and have everything set and up and give you a call later!”

“Okay. See you then.” She smiled and waved him off.

“Why didn’t you introduce him to us?” Hyunseung pouted.

Jinhee glanced at Doojoon, who was relieved, “I didn’t want you guys to scare him away.”

“We would have played nice. Maybe.” Haneul smirked. “He’s hot. And he has that cute clueless thing going for him. But can you put a ring on that?”

“Depends on what part of him do you want a ring on.” Jinhee smirked back. The ones that understood laughed and flushed bright red. The others who didn’t understand the dirty joke just stared at the others, confused.

“I still can’t get used to your jokes.” Junhyung coughed, red as a tomato.

“You’ll live.” Jinhee shrugged, “But to really answer your question; I guess I could marry him. I like him enough, and he likes me. I’ll know when I get to know him more.”

So get to know him better she did. Jinhee went on five more dates with Jong Hyun in the span of three weeks. They were texting or calling all the time. Things were going really well for them. She hadn’t fallen for him yet, but she was growing to like him a lot – and eventually that could become love.

Dongwoon was growing more and more solemn every day that went by. Then one day, a bouquet of flowers arrived in the middle of class for Jinhee from Jong Hyun. That was the last straw for him. He pulled Doojoon aside to talk during lunch on the rooftop.

“You have to make a good marriage right?” He asked suddenly.

Doojoon gaped at him, shocked. “What are you talking about?” He asked nervously.

“Don’t bother, I already know about your family or whatever. I could tell immediately you were like Jinhee. You also at lying about certain things. It just never mattered to me if you were rich or not, or if you wanted to hide it from us. But you weren’t telling, so neither was I.” He unknowingly said the exact same thing as Jinhee to Doojoon.

Doojoon smiled wryly at his friend. “Okay, then why bring it up now?”

“Date and marry Jinhee.”

“Excuse me?! What?!”

“I don’t like this Jong Hyun guy for Jinhee. She doesn’t really like him either. She sees him as a part of her duties as a future CEO of the family business. She’ll never open up to him. Jinhee should at least be comfortable and happy in her marriage – she’ll be so stressed from working that her home life should be an environment she can be herself in. She likes you, she trusts you, and she’s comfortable with you. You’re one of three sons and one daughter in the Yoon family. It would do all of you well to marry into the Ahn family. You’ve had to have already known you would have little choice or say in who you marry, and Jinhee at this point doesn’t seem to give a damn about who she marries as long as they’re a decent person and likable enough. If this is the case, I can trust her with you. You’re a great guy and you care about her.”

“This isn’t that simple. If it were that simple, why don’t you date and marry her?”

“There are extenuating circumstances that prevent such actions.” He said awkwardly.

“Precisely. If she wants to date this guy, she will.”

“It’s not that she wants to, it’s that she finds it an acceptable deal for the business. This guy will never understand Jinhee, and he’ll never take care of her properly. She puts up a strong front, but she does need to be taken care of every now and then. You do that, I see it. You genuinely care about her, and she cares about you too. She wouldn’t say no if you asked her to date and marry you instead. I know she’d rather be with you than that guy.”

“And if we do date? If we do get married? You know we’ll have to have kids right? And what are your feelings on that issue?”

“I know. I can accept it if it’s you. You’ll treat her well. I know that for certain. That’s all that matters.”

“You really love her…”

“Yeah, I do.”

“What the hell is stopping you from being with her then?”

“Don’t worry about it. Are you going to do this or not? I swear, I’ll tell the world who you are and spread nasty rumors about you if you don’t.”

“Relax.” Doojoon sighed. “I don’t like how fake she is with that guy either. Whatever is in your way better be damn good. I’ll ask her, but if she says no, then that’s it.”

“Thanks.” Dongwoon smiled sadly, yet relieved.

Just posting all that was already pre-written.....