Chapter 3
Moonlit Masquerade
Yoo Bin dreamt of balconies, kisses, moonlight, stars, and…and daylilies. She was cuddled against the fluffy pillows, smiling at the gentle images, when Nam Suk burst into the room. “You’re not up yet?” he scolded as he walked to the window and pulled the curtains, letting the sunlight spill into the room.
Groaning, Yoo Bin shut her eyes tightly as she furrowed deeper under the blanket. She didn’t know how she had ever thought he was boyish. He was a mean bear. Unsympathetic and moody.
“Go away,” she murmured. “It’s still so early…”
“Early?” Nam Suk asked in disbelief. “It’s nine!”
“I slept late last night,” Yoo Bin whined, hoping the reminder would soften him.
“And you’re being paid handsomely for it as well,” he said. Yoo Bin cringed; she forgot how cruel this man could be. Standing by the bed with his hands on his waist, he glared at her. “Now, up.”
“Alright, alright. You don’t have to beat me over it.” She grumbled, crass, as she reluctantly pulled herself away from the bed. Yoo Bin’s hair was rumpled as she walked to the connected bathroom. While brushing her teeth, Nam Suk entered the room. Sitting on the toilet top, he began telling her the plans for that day.
“We will drive back to Seoul,” Nam Suk began. “I will take you to Aeri’s apartment and introduce you to her personal assistants. They’ll prepare you for the date with Choi Seung Hyun—”
Yoo Bin coughed out the water in , splashing them all over the sink counter. “What is wrong with you?!” Nam Suk exclaimed in distaste. “You may look like Aeri but you have none of her poise and manner.” Disdainfully, he added, “How unladylike you are.”
“Who did you just say I’m going to meet?”
Rolling his eyes in disbelief, Nam Suk repeated each syllables slowly, as though Yoo Bin was dim-witted. “Choi. Seung. Hyun.”
Yoo Bin’s heartbeat quickened. “I thought you said I’m meeting TOP.”
“Of course you are!” he exclaimed impatiently.
“Then…who’s this Choi Seung Hyun?”
“Are you dense, woman?! TOP and Seung Hyun are one and the same. Aish! A person could easily get a migraine simply conversing with you…” Nam Suk muttered as he stood up and walked out of the bathroom.
Yoo Bin sighed heavily, leaning against the counter. And who would have thought the man she met yesterday was the one and only TOP?
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The disturbing realization gnawed at Yoo Bin throughout the whole ride back to Seoul. She paid no attention to where they were going as Nam Suk drove them to the tall buildings where Aeri’s apartment was. Absentminded, she followed Nam Suk inside the building, into the elevator, and onto Aeri’s floor.
At the door, before inserting the key into the keyhole, Nam Suk turned to her and frowned. “Are you having second thoughts?” he asked.
“What?” she looked at him. “Oh, no. I’m just…distracted.”
“Well, fend off whatever that distraction is. Once you enter, nothing from your previous life cease to exist. You are to be Aeri in every sense. If it’s too much to ask, just remember the payment I’ve already given you and maybe that’ll jolt you back to reality.”
Yoo Bin glowered at Nam Suk. Was it possible to hate him more? Ignoring Yoo Bin’s glare, he unlocked the door and stepped inside. After Yoo Bin entered the room, Nam Suk shut the door behind Yoo Bin and led her to the kitchen. “Sun Ye? Sira?” Nam Suk called out.
“In here!” a woman’s voice responded.
Yoo Bin followed Nam Suk towards the direction of the voice. “Good morning ladies,” Nam Suk greeted pleasantly, in a tone Yoo Bin noticed he had never used when talking to her. “I want to introduce Kim Yoo Bin to you.” Nam Suk turned to Yoo Bin. “Yoo Bin, this is Sun Ye, Aeri’s hair stylist.”
The younger woman with short, cropped hair bowed and greeted Yoo Bin with a bright, warm smile. Yoo Bin liked Sun Ye already. “Nice to meet you,” Yoo Bin said politely.
“Same here.” Sun Ye was a small woman but full of energy. Jumping from her stool, she came to stand next to Yoo Bin. She continued the introductions,
“And this is Sira, Aeri’s make-up specialist.”
Yoo Bin nodded. “Nice to—”
Sira turned around to Nam Suk. “So, how long is this charade going to last?” she asked, her voice brusque.
"A week at the most.”
“Good. I don’t think I can endure this.”
“Why not?” Sun Ye asked. “I don’t see why it should bother you,” she pointed out. Turning to Yoo Bin, she smiled and said, “Come on, let me give you a tour of the place. Just in case someone Aeri knows shows up, you’ll know where things are.” Laughing lightly, Sun Ye added, “We wouldn’t want you getting lost in your own apartment, right?”
Chuckling, Yoo Bin agreed, “Right.”
“Sun Ye, I have to speak with you,” Nam Suk interrupted. “Why don’t Yoo Bin go on first?”
“That’s fine,” Yoo Bin replied.
“Sorry, I’ll catch up,” Sun Ye promised. After Yoo Bin left the kitchen, Sun Ye turned to Nam Suk and Sira. “You were rude.”
“What?” Sira asked, giving Sun Ye an innocent expression. Her hair was dyed a bright cherry orange, a black-rimmed glasses perched on the tip of her nose. “I’m merely putting her in her place. I don’t want her thinking just because she looks like Aeri, she’s better than us.”
“And Aeri is?” Sun Ye asked sarcastically. Sira turned away, refusing to offer an answer. Sun Ye was disgusted by Sira’s guilty face. The stupid girl seemed to worship Aeri, who in Sun Ye’s opinion was a spoiled, two-faced brat.
“Enough bickering you two,” Nam Suk interrupted. “Sira, why don’t you see to Yoo Bin’s outfit? She’s to meet TOP for lunch. Nothing too fancy.”
Sighing begrudgingly, Sira stood up and trudged out of the room.
“You would think she’s headed to the guillotine,” Sun Ye remarked, biting into an apple. Ignoring the statement, Nam Suk turned to Sun Ye. In as casual a tone as he could muster, he asked, “So…any news?”
Sun Ye made a face. “If you’re wondering if Aeri has called me, then no, she hasn’t.”
“I didn’t say that.”
“You didn’t have to, I know.” She studied the dejected droop of her brother’s shoulders. Sun Ye, Nam Suk, and Aeri had grown up together and both siblings had stuck by Aeri’s side as she shot to stardom. Through the years, Sun Ye had always been aware of her brother’s unreturned affections. Pitying him, Sun Ye said, “Oppa, maybe Aeri’s too busy, that’s all. In any case, focus on your promise to Aeri. Didn’t you promise you will see this through for her?”
Brightening at the thought, Nam Suk nodded. “Yes, you’re right. We can’t disappoint Aeri.”
With an optimistic smile, he said, “Come on, let’s go help Yoo Bin prepare.”
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Yoo Bin’s eyes widened at the reflection. She couldn’t recognize the woman staring back at her. As a matter of fact, she couldn’t believe the woman was her. “I don’t like the smoky eyes,” Yoo Bin announced with absolute conviction. “And there’s too much make-up on my face, I feel like a cake powered with blush!”
“Too bad,” Sira said with a sweet, wide smile. “Aeri likes her make-up this way.”
Yoo Bin’s eyes narrowed. “Well, I’m not Aeri.”
“Uh, you are, for this week anyway.” Sira walked away breezily, returning to the cosmetics littered on the vanity. It seemed to serve her purpose to accept Yoo Bin as Aeri whenever it benefitted her.
“You look fine,” Sun Ye said, smoothing the tendrils falling from the upswept hairstyle she had given Yoo Bin. “A mixture of ordinariness mixed with a tinge of mysteriousness, I say.”
Yoo Bin sighed. “This is so not me.”
“And isn’t that the point?” Sun Ye handed Yoo Bin a pearl necklace, the blue shade complementing Yoo Bin’s sundress. “If you are to be the sweet and witty Yoo Bin around TOP, I think he would fall for you.”
“Oh, stop it!” But Yoo Bin couldn’t help giggling.
“Seriously! But since you are to be Aeri, your goal is to turn him off so your mission will end soon.”
Yoo Bin turned somber at the reminder. Nam Suk had told her Aeri had promised her mother she would meet TOP only once. If he found her company intolerable, Aeri was free from the promise their mother had made years ago. To discourage any future relationship, Yoo Bin was to play a rich, spoiled brat; unintelligent and irritating. In other words, Yoo Bin was to play the part of a bimbo.
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Being so successful at a young age, and continuing to be so as time flew by, Seung Hyun was used to never having to wait, for anyone. But for the first time since he could remember, he was forced. Forced to wait.
It was stalling his perfectly planned schedule for that day. He hated it when things didn’t go accordingly; it made him grouchy and hostile. His blackened mood could only turn uglier if the person who was responsible for all this was a woman dressed in a designer dress, with a huge tote bag in tow, and strolling into the room as though time waited on her.
The common frown that was beginning to mar Seung Hyun’s expression deepened, as the approaching woman neared his table. Setting her bag onto the seat by the window, turned to him with a wide smile as she took off her dark shades. “Sorry I’m late, TOP,” she said
In a voice far from apologetic as she sat down opposite him. “Oh dear, how rude of me. I didn’t even ask. You do prefer to go by that name, right?” Aeri asked, giggling. “I do think it’s such a y nickname.”
“Call me Seung Hyun,” he replied dryly. “Are you ready to order yet?”
"I barely arrived. I think a cup of tea first will be great.”
He looked at the almost empty teapot sitting in the middle of the table. “I’ve drank most of it already,” he said, hinting at his annoyance for having to wait almost an hour for her.
“Am I late?” she asked with a surprised expression. Glancing at her gold wristwatch, she gasped. Seung Hyun thought he hated her giggles, now he couldn’t decide between the giggle or the squeaky gasp. “I am late!” she stated foolishly. “It’s not my fault, really. I had the hardest time deciding on what to wear. I went through my whole closet and still I had nothing to wear!”
Seung Hyun glanced around, agitated. Swiftly, he motioned for the waitress. He wanted to pay his due, quickly, and get on with more important matters in his life.
Like searching for his moonlit masquerader.
“Are you listening to me?” Aeri asked in that high pitch voice.
“Of course,” he said nonchalantly, waiting for the waitress to reach their table. Finally, the waitress came.
“Are you ready to order yet?” the waitress asked, her eyes sliding back to Seung Hyun every other second.
“Yes,” Seung Hyun replied, trying to suppress his sigh of relief. “I’ll have the lobster and a salad.”
“Okay…and you, miss?”
“I’ll get a small salad, with fat free dressing…and a low fat yogurt.”
Another mark on Seung Hyun’s black list; he hated anorexic women.
After the waitress was gone, Aeri turned back to Seung Hyun. “Well, what was I saying…?”
“I can’t remember,” he lied.
“Oh, yes! I was talking about my outfit. So anyway, I had to drop by the mall first…”
Seung Hyun turned to the window and stared at the passing cars, droning out her voice until it became faint, squeaky noises. He realized he was quite relieved. Had Aeri been a nice girl, he might have been inclined to call on her again, just to fulfill his mother’s wishes. But now that he found Aeri to be obnoxious and selfish, he was sure his mother would forgive him for the small indiscretion.
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Yoo Bin knew that had she been recorded and had anyone known she was acting, she would have been nominated for an Emmy’s. None of her earlier nervousness was obvious. To any passersby, she looked like a confident woman whose beck and call had always been fulfilled. Yoo Bin played the role so beautifully it frightened her to know the snobby trait came so naturally.
On the way to the restaurant, there had been many times when she was tempted to call the whole charade off. It was nerve racking to know she had to meet Seung Hyun only to make him hate the sight of her. But she knew even if she didn’t go through with the act, she couldn’t approach him and introduce herself as the masquerader he met the night before. She would be giving herself too much credit if she thought he was still thinking about her.
For him, it might have been just another distraction.
For her, it was a sensational experience.
And because of that, Yoo Bin was about to call the whole thing off, but Aunt Kim called Yoo Bin just as she reached the restaurant. Aunt Kim was thrilled at the new cottage Yoo Bin had bought with some of the payment money, located on the outskirts of Seoul, in a quiet and peaceful small town. Yoo Bin knew then she had to see through this mission for her and Aunt Kim’s sake. Fortunately, Aunt Kim’s enthusiastic call gave Yoo Bin the strength to enter the restaurant and play the role Nam Suk demanded to perfection.
As they ate their meal, she stole glances at Seung Hyun. If she had thought he was intimidating the night before, he was even more so that afternoon. His lips were pressed in a firm, grim line and his brows furrowed in a deep frown of discontent.
Yoo Bin turned back to her distasteful meal. Nam Suk had dictated what she must eat, ensuring her characteristics mirrored Aeri’s. Yoo Bin was ravenous but she was stuck with a mere salad. She sighed, trying to turn her gloomy thoughts away from food.
After dessert, which Yoo Bin declined with a longing look at Seung Hyun’s thick slice of chocolate fudge cake, Seung Hyun turned to her with a smile that did not meet his eyes. “Well, it was nice meeting you,” he said, more cheerful than he was when Yoo Bin had arrived. “I doubt I’ll have time to ever call on you again,” he said meaningfully, making her cringe. “It’s good to know our mothers were best friends. I’m sure even if we don’t have time to keep in touch, the special bond between our mothers would never vanish.” He stood up and bowed stiffly. “Best wishes to you and your future endeavors, Aeri.”
Yoo Bin watched helplessly as he walked away. Oddly, she felt sad that they had to part this way. He would always go through life, remembering Yoo Bin as someone she was not. Walking further away, Yoo Bin watched as he reached into his pocket and answered a call from his cell phone. Watching his rigid back, for the first time in Yoo Bin’s life, she did something foolish.
She wished for a miracle.
A miracle that would make Seung Hyun turn around and realize her worth for whom she really was.
But she knew she was only being silly to have such wishful thinking implanted in her head. Sighing dejectedly, Yoo Bin was about to reach for her bag and leave as well, when suddenly, Seung Hyun did turn around. He studied her intently for a brief second. Then her heartbeat quickened as he made his way back to her.
Yoo Bin would have been swayed to believe in miracles, right there and then, if only the formidable look on his face wasn’t one of great dislike and utter annoyance.
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To be continued!
Let' just imagine that that was how Yubin looked like when she first met Seung Hyun as Aeri. :D Pretty, right? And let's say that TOP is getting pissed there in his picture hahaha! Credits to their respective owners! :D
Sorry for keeping you waiting. :( I was busy in school that I can't even squeeze copying, pasting and editing the spacing of MM into my schedule. Really sorry!
To those who have already read MM and just rereading it now, let's not spoil the story to the first-time readers okay? Let's let them feel the excitement we felt when we read it for the first time. Thank you! <3
PLEASE ANTICIPATE THE UPCOMING CHAPTERS! SPREAD THE WORD! SPREAD TOOBIN LOVE!!!
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