Chapter 14. A Date as Planned

 

Slightly feeling down and disappointed, Ha Ni just decided to settle herself on her seat. She finally gave up hoping that someone would claim that extra ticket she left at the reception area.

 

(flashback)

Ha Ni and Jin Woo both arrived early at the venue. Jin Woo did not fail to compliment Ha Ni on her looks, especially that she appeared to have prepared for the day. Ha Ni just explained that everything was Ommoni’s plan and she had no choice but to go along.

 

“You are pretty everyday, Oh Ha Ni…but you are exceptionally beautiful today. Are you that excited for our date?”

 

“This is not a date, Park Jin Woo” Ha Ni defended but Jin Woo just endlessly.

 

 They were already at the reception area, waiting for the theater hall to open for the audience when Jin Woo received a phone call. From the expression on his face and tone of his voice, Ha Ni was able to tell that it was an urgent matter.

 

Jin Woo told her that his apartment building manager called that someone reported smelling leaking gas from his door. He was asked to go back to his apartment to check the situation.

 

“I hope it will not take long. I’ll return as soon as possible,” Jin Woo told her before he left.

 

Ha Ni was worried but she was optimistic that the problem would be fixed quickly. Then Jin Woo later called her and apologized that it would probably take him a longer time to return, if he could return for the musical at all. The gas leak report was a mistake. There was no gas leak from his apartment, but many apartment owners in his building then suggested a full check on all apartments on his floor just to be sure.

 

“Oh… Then just stay there, it’s okay.” Ha Ni said kindly, despite feeling distressed at having to watch alone.

 

“Are you sure? I can slip out when they finish checking my side of the floor,” Jin Woo suggested.

 

“No, don’t worry about me. I’ll be fine. Just stay there and monitor the safety test. Okay, bye..” Ha Ni ended the call. That was when she decided to call Ommoni.

 

Sadly, ommoni did not give her any assurance that Eun Jo could watch with her.

(end of flashback)

 

Ha Ni looked at her both sides. The seats on her left and right were still unoccupied. She felt more isolated, seeing that other seats were packed with group of friends, fan girls and couples on a date. Ha Ni just focused intently on the illuminated stage as the lights on the audience dimmed. The overture and prologue started. A few minutes later, more of the cast appeared on stage. The musical officially began.

 

Thirty minutes into the play, Ha Ni became too engaged watching the scenes on stage to notice that someone took the seat on her left.

 

After full five minutes of being ignored, the person sitting next to her finally whispered.

 

“Are you not even going to greet me?” Seung Jo asked in a low voice.

 

Ha Ni jerked her head quickly to his direction, and she gasped as she came face to face with Seung Jo who was sitting relaxed next to her.

 

“What are you doing here?” She asked back in a murmur.

 

Seung Jo shifted his gaze to the stage. “What do you mean? It’s your fault that I’m here.”

 

“Yah!” Ha Ni said a little loudly, earning glares from some people. She made apologetic gestures and went back to watching the play. “Let’s talk later.”

 

Seung Jo did not answer back and just smiled, enjoying the show.

 

********************

 

The short break during the musical gave Ha Ni a chance to barrage Seung Jo with questions right after she returned from the wash room

 

“Ommoni sent you here?” she asked.

 

“No. Eun Jo did,” he replied. Seeing her confused face, he explained, “If you don’t know, we were all supposed to meet Eun Jo’s godfather this afternoon. Eun Jo really wanted to go with you but he wanted to see his godfather more. So he just asked me to go instead.”

 

“Oh…ommoni did not mention it,” Ha Ni said, embarrassed at having messing up the family’s schedule. “You shouldn’t have come here, then.”

 

Seung Jo did not know how to answer. Luckily, the lights in the theater dimmed again, signaling the start of the second part of the play.

Whew.

 

********************

 

Goong was splendid and it received standing ovation from the audience. Both Seung Jo and Ha Ni were satisfied watching it. Ha Ni then asked Seung Jo to eat with her at a nearby restaurant.

 

“Since you agreed to accompany me today, I will treat you to an early dinner. Ommoni mentioned yesterday about a good restaurant on the way here.”

 

“Are you bribing me for causing trouble yet again?” Seung Jo asked.

 

Ha Ni pouted. “Of course not. I’m sorry that Eun Jo had to force you, but I am just being a good girl so I’m treating you to dinner. And I’m hungry, too. Come on!”

 

They rode the car and stopped by a fancy-looking restaurant serving Italian food, Bon Appétit. The two were ushered in by a kind matron who seemed to be the maitre d’ of the house.

 

“Table for two, Sir?”

 

Seung Jo nodded, and the two of them were led to a secluded area for couples. The woman signaled some of the staff to bring the menu to their table. Ha Ni ordered the specialty of the house and some sparkling drinks. The food arrived shortly after. Then the maitre d’ passed by and placed a box of home-made chocolates on their table. Ha Ni and Seung Jo said they did not order any.

 

“On the house, special treat of the day for cute couples like you. Enjoy your date.” The woman said kindly and walked off before Ha Ni could protest that they were not on a date.

 

“We are not what they think, and we are certainly not on a date. This feels like cheating them…” Ha Ni said as she inspected the box of chocolates.

 

“Shhhhh… Just accept it, okay? No need to make a fuss over a box of sweets.”

 

Ha Ni just sighed. “Okay… and it wouldn’t make this officially a date even if I eat all these chocolates.”

 

Seung Jo chose to ignor her last comment and started eating his food.

 

“So… what happened to Jin Woo? I thought he’s your date today?” Seung Jo asked casually.

 

“How many times do I have to drill it to your head that Jin Woo and I were not going on a date?” Ha Ni said.

 

“Yeah, right.” Seung Jo snorted.

 

Ha Ni explained how the ticket for Min Ah got passed on to Jin Woo, who at the last minute had to attend to some matters in his apartment building. Then she asked him why he went to the musical.

 

“I told you, Eun Jo couldn’t skip the get-together with his godfather so he asked me to come. Omma agreed, too.”

 

“But did you agree to it? I mean, you don’t have to come to the musical even if they forced you,” Ha Ni asked again. Then she casually added, “You are not even the kind of person who can be forced to do silly things.”

 

Seung Jo started to get irritated at her questions. “Yah! Why are you asking so many things? Can’t you just be thankful that somebody watched the stupid musical with you?”

 

“Stupid musical? You were clapping your hands off earlier if I remember correctly.”

 

Seung Jo inhaled deeply. “Can’t we just eat and talk about other things?”

 

Ha Ni saw that Seung Jo’s relatively good mood from earlier was getting ruined so she decided to drop the topic. “Okay…if you say so.”

 

The two passed time before another conversation picked in. It was Seung Jo who resumed it, much to Ha Ni’s amazement.

 

There’s really something different with you today… first you showed up in the play unnecessarily…then you agreed to eat out with me… and now you’re showing some efforts in starting a conversation. I just wish you are like this most of the time, Baek Seung Jo.

 

“You’ve been living in house for many weeks already and I still don’t know much about you,” he said.

 

Ha Ni chuckled. “Why are you suddenly interested?”

 

Seung Jo just shrugged. “It’s just natural for people to be curious about people living around them, right? And I think it’s about time we really get to know each other. We are going to be married, anyway.”

 

Ha Ni gulped at his last comment. She did not really want to think about her impending marriage, and she thought Seung Jo felt the same. She could not believe her ears that it was Seung Jo who brought that topic up, so out-of-the-blue.

 

“So, what do you want to know?”

 

“Anything. Just talk.”

 

‘Is this some getting-to-know joke?’ Ha Ni thought incredulously but then she decided to get along with it.

 

“Hmm… I was born in Seoul but my family moved to Jeju and lived there since I was a baby. My father worked in Seoul and just came home during the weekend… I am a daddy’s girl. I can still remember my excitement all those weekends I knew he was coming home. And he made sure he brought me gifts each time. Omma even scolded me for being too spoiled. We are a perfectly happy family.” Ha Ni’s voice faltered. “Well, that was before we lost the company, of course.”

 

“Sorry to hear that,” Seung Jo just said.

 

“There’s no use crying over spilled milk, isn’t it? I’m just here to do my best for my parents. I will get the company back at any cost.”

 

“Including getting married to a total stranger,” Seung Jo added.

 

“Sooner or later we will not be strangers anymore, right?” Ha Ni asked optimistically. “For now, let’s just go with the flow.”

 

Ha Ni smiled at him, one of her first genuine smiles for her soon-to-be husband.

 

Seung Jo smiled back, adding to Ha Ni’s confusion. Did he eat something weird today? He’s nicer today, for a change. Ha Ni took advantage of Seung Jo’s unusually pleasant mood and asked about him as well.

 

“What about you?”

 

“Me?” Seung Jo thought for a while.

 

“Hmmm… I am a good cook…and I don’t drink coffee.”

 

Ha Ni looked at him weirdly. “Yah! What kind of answer is that? How shallow...aish”

 

Seung Jo laughed lightly. “You are living in our house, you are studying in my school, you attended our tennis club… I even allowed you to ride my car. For a smart girl like you, you should already have figured out lots of things about me, right?”

 

Ha Ni thought for a moment. He is very smart. He likes going out with his friends. He is extremely popular in school. His family is very kind… He can be rude or nice, depending on the person he is with… What else? Hmmm… he is also very popular among girls… he must have dated a lot. Ha Ni tried to cross out the last part of her thoughts. She did not want to think of a womanizing husband-to-be.

 

Seung Jo clicked his finger to get her attention back.

 

“Yes, I think I heard a lot about you already.”

 

“And?” Seung Jo asked expectantly.

 

“And… I still need to learn more, I guess.”

 

Seung Jo laughed again and took a gulp from his glass. “I don’t eat carrots, too.”

 

Ha Ni rolled her eyes. Then her eyes turned to his plate. True to his words, diced carrot bits were untouched in his plate of sautéed vegetables. To his surprise, Ha Ni began picking the carrot bits with her chopsticks and transferred some of them to her plate.

 

“I love carrots and I’m not letting you waste them,” she explained and put some on . Actually, she was also surprised at herself and she did not know what came into her to do that.

 

Seung Jo recovered from his shock and then transferred all of his remaining carrots to Ha Ni’s plate. “Then you should eat  everything.”

 

Ha Ni finished them all off, not noticing Seung Jo smiling thoughtfully while watching her eat. The two continued their getting-to-know conversation all throughout dinner. No one mentioned marriage again, but they sure learned more about each other. It was the first time they had fun and enjoyed each other’s company.

 

They were about to leave the restaurant for a short walk in a nearby park when Ha Ni accidentally knocked glass of water off their table and caused some of the liquid to get splashed on her dress.

 

“Clumsy as usual,” Seung Jo teased.

 

“Yah!” She said as she slapped his arm lightly. Their good mood made them comfortable enough for small physical contacts, even those arm slaps.

 

Seung Jo just caught her hand and laughed at her. Ha Ni then excused herself to go to the washroom to fix herself.

 

In the washroom, Ha Ni received a call from Jin Woo.

 

“How was the musical?”

 

“It was brilliant. The audience gave a standing ovation at the curtain call.”

 

“Great. I’m glad you still enjoyed it. Have you eaten dinner?”

 

“Yes. I’ve just finished actually. There's this restaurant near the theater so I decided to have early dinner.”

 

“Ah..Bon Appétit restaurant. Good choice. So, are you going home now?”

 

“No, not yet… I’m going to walk around, there’s a garden or something nearby…”

 

“Good! I’m actually on my way there. See you!” Jin Woo said excitedly.

 

Ha Ni then heard sounds of accelerating car engine.

 

“Wait! I am with -----“ Ha Ni was not able to finish her sentence because Jin Woo already hung up.

 

He’s coming? What if Seung Jo sees him? Should I call him not to come anymore? Or maybe I should just tell Seung Jo that Jin Woo is coming? Aish, so stupid Ha Ni! Hmmmm… Wait, I don’t need to hide anything from anyone. I’m not exactly doing anything wrong. And besides, whatever caused those two to get into each other’s bad side, they surely wouldn’t make a scene in public, right? The worse they could probably do is give cold stares at each other. Okay, Oh Ha Ni, you are a big girl now, you can handle it.

 

Ha Ni and Seung Jo left the restaurant and walked to the direction of the park near the restaurant. It was a good place to stroll around, decorated with plant topiaries covered with colorful lights. Ha Ni found the guts to ask him about his strangely good manners that night.

 

“Why? Do you like me better being rude to you?”

 

Ha Ni shook her head. “No, it’s not that… I’m just worried you might get payback later and be doubly ill-mannered in the office.”

 

Seung Jo laughed. “You and your crazy ideas. I’m not really such a jerk as you’ve always regarded me to be. Once in a while, you have to believe that people can be nice for real. I’m just following your Rule #2. Be nice. Isn’t that what you always want?”

 

Ha Ni nodded.

 

“And besides, I enjoyed the musical… thanks to Jin Woo who ditched you today.” That comment earned him another slap on the arm.

 

“You know what, watching Goong reminded me of us… an arranged marriage between an irritating girl and a perfect guy.”

 

Ha Ni glared at him. “Yah! Irritating girl and perfect guy?! What does that suppose to mean?!”

 

Without looking at her, Seung Jo said, “And you look like Yoon Eun Hye from the Goong TV drama.”

 

Ha Ni momentarily forgot the irritating-girl-perfect-guy topic. “What? But Yoon Eun Hye is very pretty…”

 

“You are pretty, Oh Ha Ni.” Even prettier than Yoon Eun Hye.

 

Ha Ni stared at him wide-eyed, quite unable to digest what he just said. I thought he said I’m not really pretty when Eun Jo asked him… Aish Bek Seung Jo! It’s difficult to understand you. One moment you are mocking me, then now you are giving compliments.

 

Awkward moment of silence because Ha Ni never found the words to respond. It was Seung Jo who broke their eye contact and spoke again. “The funnier thing is that Chae Kyung is also marrying the prince for money.” (A/N: Chae Kyung is the female lead in Goong)

 

Another slap from Ha Ni.

 

Seung Jo laughed. He was really starting to enjoy teasing her and seeing the changes in her facial expression.

 

“But you must remember, Prince Shin still ended up falling in love with the Bigung Mama!” Ha Ni shot back. (A/N: Bigung Mama: crown princess)

 

“But it was the princess who fell in love first,” Seung jo retaliated.

 

“How did you know? How can you be sure who fell for whom first? For all we know, the two could have fallen for each other at the same time without knowing it,” Ha Ni argued.

 

Another awkward silence.

 

“Do you think that could happen to us, too?” Seung Jo carefully asked in a barely audible voice.

 

Ha Ni caught his question. Just before she could answer, a group of running kids slammed against her and caused her to fall down. Luckily, Seung Jo caught her by her waist.

 

“Are you okay?” Seung Jo asked, still hugging her closely.

 

Ha Ni looked up at him and once again felt those butterflies she tried to avoid in the past days. She straightened up and fixed herself.

 

“Yes, thank you” she answered shyly.

 

Seung Jo noticed Ha Ni blushing and he instinctively scratched the back of his head, being at a loss for words to say to her.

 

“Come on, I think it’s time we head back to the car…” Ha Ni said, still not in the right senses. She started walking first to the direction of the parking space, which was just nearby the park. Seung Jo just followed her.

 

Seung Jo was already ushering Ha Ni to the passenger’s seat, when he saw a familiar figure emerged from a white car just a few meters away from them.

 

Jin Woo saw Seung Jo, too. He clutched hard at the bouquet of flowers he had in his hand. He moved to their direction quickly.

 

“Ha Ni yah!” Jin Woo called loudly to call her attention.

 

Ha Ni heard him calling her name and she immediately came out of the car. She saw Jin Woo standing a few feet from them. Just as she was about to walk to him and greet him, Seung Jo yanked her by the waist. Both Jin Woo and Ha Ni’s eyes widened.

 

And before she knew it, Seung Jo already swooped down and crashed his lips to hers.

 

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A/N: I realized I cant write satisfying mushy scenes. Mianhe. XD

 

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