Chapter 4: Lunch Get-Together
On the way to the restaurant, both Sora and her father were silent in the car. When they reached the restaurant, Sora’s mother was already seated inside a private room waiting for them. When they came into the room, Sora’s mother greeted her husband, “Yeobo,” and the Chairman just gives his wife a slight nod.
“Omma,” Sora greeted her mother and gave her a slight bow.
From that instance, Sora’s mother can sense the awkward atmosphere and suspects that something happened along their way here. They all sat down and Sora’s mother looked at them both.
“So, any one of you would care to tell what happened?” asked Sora’s mother.
Sora kept silent when her father replied to his wife’s question, “Your daughter almost got us both killed in her car!”
“Appa!” Sora giving her father a glance and turned to her mother and said “Omma, it wasn’t like that!”
“It was clearly like that! You were speeding and you even ran a red light without knowing! Lucky there weren’t any cars at the intersection, or else we would have gotten into a car crash.” Her father was still raging with fire inside and letting it all out at the restaurant.
“Yeobo, yeobo! Yeobo!” Sora’s mother had to yell at the top of her lungs to stop her husband’s rampage. “Arasso, arasso…calm down dear. You have to watch your blood pressure…” then Sora’s mother turned to Sora and said “Sora-ah, you shouldn’t be driving like that no matter what the reason is. You have to know that you’re not the only one on the road. What if there were other cars coming out of nowhere and you couldn’t stop in time?”
“But omma! It was all that reckless driv ―” Sora tried to explain to her mother but was cut off again by her father.
“Enough of the ‘reckless driver’! No matter what, Victor will be your driver starting from tomorrow onwards!” ordered her father.
“But App―” said Sora as she attempts to refute her father’s decision but was stopped by her mother.
“Sora-ah, listen to your father. He just wants you to be safe and not get hurt,” said Sora’s mother as she tries to convince her daughter to follow her father’s orders. Then her mother leaned forward with a hand on Sora’s arm and whispered to Sora, “Just do it for the time being. Let your father cool down a bit and maybe then he’ll let you drive again. I’ll have a talk with him once he calms down. Arasso?”
Sora looked at her mother with a helpless look and agreed to the arrangement.
“Good! Then let’s eat now! The food is getting cold,” Sora’s mother said to the both of them, trying to calm the atmosphere.
*** [ While on the other side… ] ***
Park Jungsu poured himself some cold water and took a big gulp down his throat as he and Donghae sat down at a restaurant. “Hooo…Yah! Because of you, we almost got into an accident!” Park Jungsu blaming Donghae for being the main cause of this afternoon’s incident.
“Wae-o? Who would have thought she wouldn’t give up so easily and unforgiving,” Donghae defending himself.
“How did you know it was a she anyways? All I saw was a set of tinted windows,” Park Jungsu asked Donghae as he remembers only seeing nothing but black tinted windows.
“Well this morning, she had her convertible top down and I only got a glimpse of her,” explained Donghae.
“Well, thanks to you – I now have to pay more attention to that car on the road. I better not encounter her again,” said Park Jungsu as he takes his last gulp of cold water down. “Aish…my forehead hurts! Is it red?” he asked while pointing to himself.
“Umm…just… a… little?” Donghae said to his hyung, making a gesture with his fingers to indicate the slight redness on his hyung’s forehead. “Still looking good as always though!” Donghae remarked while giving his hyung a wink to ease off the mood. Park Jungsu gave Donghae a daring stare as he massages his bruise.
As their food came, Donghae asked “So Hyung, any backstage passes for any of your idol girl group concerts?” while sipping on his drink.
Park Jungsu looked at Donghae and asked “Wae-o?”
“What do you mean why? Because they’re pretty and it’ll be nice to be able to exchange numbers with some of them” Donghae replied with excitement.
Park Jungsu declined Donghae’s request by saying “The more reason why I shouldn’t give it to you even if I have any,” while eating his jajangmyun.
Park Jungsu’s response stunned Donghae “Hyung! Wae-o?”
Park Jungsu explains “I am the President and CEO of JSE (Jungsu Entertainment) and you are Lee Donghae, the person who easily gets into a scandal. Do you think I would let any of my idol girls take the slightest chance of getting into a scandal with you?”
“But hyung! It’s not like I want to get into a scandal, it’s just that the paparazzi likes to make up creative stories that aren’t even true. Besides, I’m not getting their phone numbers to ask them out or anything. I’m just trying to expand my social network, that’s all,” argued Donghae. “Plus, don’t you think it’s a bit unfair to keep all the idol girls to yourself hyung? You probably have a long contact list of all the idol girls and actresses in the K-Entertainment industry!”
Park Jungsu choked on his food after hearing Donghae’s last statement. “Yah! Lee Donghae! Be careful of what you say in public,” responded Park Jungsu. He wiped his mouth with a napkin and boasted to Donghae “I, Park Jungsu am the President and CEO of JSE. I don’t need to ask any girls for their numbers, they give it to me on their own free will.”
Donghae looked at Park Jungsu with envy, “Yah, Hyung… I really envy you! I mean my looks, my family and financial backgrounds; they all aren’t that bad. But why do almost all the girls surround themselves around you? It’s like they’re all lined up in front of you, waiting for you to choose them.”
Park Jungsu slowed down his chewing and looked at Donghae, “Wae? Why did you suddenly sound like a poor lonely puppy that’s left out in the rain?”
“Because I’m a lonely puppy that needs some loving,” answered Donghae with a pout on his face. “I always ask them to call me the next day, but never did they call.”
Park Jungsu looked at Donghae and laughed. He then laid his arm around Donghae’s shoulders and said “Donghae-ah, let me ask you something. When you go and pick up a girl on a date, what do you do when you see the girl? Do you wait inside the car or do you go out of the car to greet her and open the car door for her?”
Donghae scratched his temple while trying to think back to the times he went out on a date with a girl. “I just wait for her in the car. I mean, she has hands and can open the car door herself.”
Park Jungsu shook his head in disbelief, “Donghae-ah, that’s exactly what I’m talking about here. When you go on a date with a girl, as a gentleman, you have to escort the girl into your car. It’s what a man should do on a date. You have to show the girl that you’re treating her like a princess. You have to give them the sense that you care and that you love them.”
“But it’s cold outside at night. She should just quickly get into the car,” said Donghae.
Park Jungsu turned to Donghae with a confound look and slowly turned away while slowly shaking his head. He mumbled to himself “no wonder they didn’t call you the next day.”
Donghae heard his hyung mumbled and asked “What was that hyung?”
“Ani. Hurry up and finish your food. I still need to head over to the venue to see how the concert preparations are going,” said Park Jungsu as he finishes off his last bits of jajangmyun.
“Arasso. But we’re not done talking about my relationship problems” said Donghae, who was still unwilling to drop the topic.
“Donghae-ah, why don’t you just let it go? If the time comes, it’ll come. Why worry?” Park Jungsu trying hard to brush off the topic.
Donghae reverted “Hyung, of course you would say that for someone who gets what he wants all the time.” Donghae feeling a bit disappointed and just stirred his bowl of jajangmyun.
Park Jungsu looked at Donghae with a bit of pity and finally said, “Donghae-ah, why don’t we have a talk about it later tonight. We’ll go to a nearby club after dinner at my mother’s place and we’ll discuss a bit more about it, alright? And we’ll call up the others.”
Donghae liked the idea and finally brightens up, “Yeah! That’s sounds perfect hyung! We definitely have to call up Siwon and Sungmin hyung.”
*** [ Back at Sora’s end ] ***
During the first fifteen minutes of lunch, it was pure silence. Sora and her father didn’t say a word to each other, as if they were in a cold war, until her mother broke the silence. Sora’s mother brought up a topic that Sora’s been trying to avoid whenever they gather together for a family meal.
“Sora-ah, so how has it been living on your own?” asked her mother.
Sora puts down her metal spoon while swallowing her food down and said with a hand over her mouth “Oh, it’s been great! Loving every second of it” while giving her mother a thumb’s up.
“Sora-ah, but have you ever thought about finding someone? I mean, you should be out meeting other people and not just work, work, work, right yeobo?” said her mother with a concerned look.
“Omma! I think men are just a waste of time! I have far better things to do than to waste time on them. Why depend on them when I can be independent myself. Besides, I don’t have time for them and I enjoy what I do at work.” Sora said with determination and confidence.
Sora’s father glanced back and forth between his wife and Sora. “Well yeobong, I think our daughter is fine just the way she is right now. I mean, she can’t just be with any guy she comes across on the streets. She has to meet someone who has a good family background, can take good care of her and love her deeply. I won’t allow just any guy to have my only daughter, not if I can help it. Not to mention that our Sora-ah here is far too good for any man in this world!” opposed Sora’s father.
Sora looked at her father with admiration as if whatever happened earlier didn’t happen at all and said with watery eyes “Appa... ”
Her father placed his hand on Sora’s with an ‘it’s alright, daddy’s here’ look and continued “Besides, if she is to be with someone, they’ll have to pass my screening first!”
Sora’s mother still unwilling to end the conversation said “Our Sora needs to get married sooner or later and should really start finding someone…”
“Omma! I’m old enough to think for my own. I just don’t see the need to be in a relationship right now. Look! Can we just stop this conversation right now and enjoy our lunch?” Sora defending herself, to which her father also agrees “Honey, let’s leave it here for now and finish our meal. We can always discuss this matter another time when the time is right.”
Sora’s mother sighs and temporarily admits defeat for the time being. She knows that she alone cannot win against both her husband and daughter, “Arasso, arasso. Yeobo, you’re always helping your daughter whenever we have this discussion.”
Following his wife’s statement, Sora’s father raised his eye-brows and looked away from his wife’s gaze. Sora noticed her father’s reaction, to which she tried to hold her smile in. She looked at her father while he did the same. He gave her a wink to indicate he’s got her back and that there’s no need for her to worry.
However, in the Chairman’s mind, he knows deep down that someday, he will eventually need to let go of his daughter and have her form a family of her own. He understands that he can’t keep his daughter under his wings forever and that she getting married in the future is inevitable. But until that day comes, he will cherish every moment with his one and only daughter.
“Omma,” Sora greeted her mother and gave her a slight bow.
From that instance, Sora’s mother can sense the awkward atmosphere and suspects that something happened along their way here. They all sat down and Sora’s mother looked at them both.
“So, any one of you would care to tell what happened?” asked Sora’s mother.
Sora kept silent when her father replied to his wife’s question, “Your daughter almost got us both killed in her car!”
“Appa!” Sora giving her father a glance and turned to her mother and said “Omma, it wasn’t like that!”
“It was clearly like that! You were speeding and you even ran a red light without knowing! Lucky there weren’t any cars at the intersection, or else we would have gotten into a car crash.” Her father was still raging with fire inside and letting it all out at the restaurant.
“Yeobo, yeobo! Yeobo!” Sora’s mother had to yell at the top of her lungs to stop her husband’s rampage. “Arasso, arasso…calm down dear. You have to watch your blood pressure…” then Sora’s mother turned to Sora and said “Sora-ah, you shouldn’t be driving like that no matter what the reason is. You have to know that you’re not the only one on the road. What if there were other cars coming out of nowhere and you couldn’t stop in time?”
“But omma! It was all that reckless driv ―” Sora tried to explain to her mother but was cut off again by her father.
“Enough of the ‘reckless driver’! No matter what, Victor will be your driver starting from tomorrow onwards!” ordered her father.
“But App―” said Sora as she attempts to refute her father’s decision but was stopped by her mother.
“Sora-ah, listen to your father. He just wants you to be safe and not get hurt,” said Sora’s mother as she tries to convince her daughter to follow her father’s orders. Then her mother leaned forward with a hand on Sora’s arm and whispered to Sora, “Just do it for the time being. Let your father cool down a bit and maybe then he’ll let you drive again. I’ll have a talk with him once he calms down. Arasso?”
Sora looked at her mother with a helpless look and agreed to the arrangement.
“Good! Then let’s eat now! The food is getting cold,” Sora’s mother said to the both of them, trying to calm the atmosphere.
*** [ While on the other side… ] ***
Park Jungsu poured himself some cold water and took a big gulp down his throat as he and Donghae sat down at a restaurant. “Hooo…Yah! Because of you, we almost got into an accident!” Park Jungsu blaming Donghae for being the main cause of this afternoon’s incident.
“Wae-o? Who would have thought she wouldn’t give up so easily and unforgiving,” Donghae defending himself.
“How did you know it was a she anyways? All I saw was a set of tinted windows,” Park Jungsu asked Donghae as he remembers only seeing nothing but black tinted windows.
“Well this morning, she had her convertible top down and I only got a glimpse of her,” explained Donghae.
“Well, thanks to you – I now have to pay more attention to that car on the road. I better not encounter her again,” said Park Jungsu as he takes his last gulp of cold water down. “Aish…my forehead hurts! Is it red?” he asked while pointing to himself.
“Umm…just… a… little?” Donghae said to his hyung, making a gesture with his fingers to indicate the slight redness on his hyung’s forehead. “Still looking good as always though!” Donghae remarked while giving his hyung a wink to ease off the mood. Park Jungsu gave Donghae a daring stare as he massages his bruise.
As their food came, Donghae asked “So Hyung, any backstage passes for any of your idol girl group concerts?” while sipping on his drink.
Park Jungsu looked at Donghae and asked “Wae-o?”
“What do you mean why? Because they’re pretty and it’ll be nice to be able to exchange numbers with some of them” Donghae replied with excitement.
Park Jungsu declined Donghae’s request by saying “The more reason why I shouldn’t give it to you even if I have any,” while eating his jajangmyun.
Park Jungsu’s response stunned Donghae “Hyung! Wae-o?”
Park Jungsu explains “I am the President and CEO of JSE (Jungsu Entertainment) and you are Lee Donghae, the person who easily gets into a scandal. Do you think I would let any of my idol girls take the slightest chance of getting into a scandal with you?”
“But hyung! It’s not like I want to get into a scandal, it’s just that the paparazzi likes to make up creative stories that aren’t even true. Besides, I’m not getting their phone numbers to ask them out or anything. I’m just trying to expand my social network, that’s all,” argued Donghae. “Plus, don’t you think it’s a bit unfair to keep all the idol girls to yourself hyung? You probably have a long contact list of all the idol girls and actresses in the K-Entertainment industry!”
Park Jungsu choked on his food after hearing Donghae’s last statement. “Yah! Lee Donghae! Be careful of what you say in public,” responded Park Jungsu. He wiped his mouth with a napkin and boasted to Donghae “I, Park Jungsu am the President and CEO of JSE. I don’t need to ask any girls for their numbers, they give it to me on their own free will.”
Donghae looked at Park Jungsu with envy, “Yah, Hyung… I really envy you! I mean my looks, my family and financial backgrounds; they all aren’t that bad. But why do almost all the girls surround themselves around you? It’s like they’re all lined up in front of you, waiting for you to choose them.”
Park Jungsu slowed down his chewing and looked at Donghae, “Wae? Why did you suddenly sound like a poor lonely puppy that’s left out in the rain?”
“Because I’m a lonely puppy that needs some loving,” answered Donghae with a pout on his face. “I always ask them to call me the next day, but never did they call.”
Park Jungsu looked at Donghae and laughed. He then laid his arm around Donghae’s shoulders and said “Donghae-ah, let me ask you something. When you go and pick up a girl on a date, what do you do when you see the girl? Do you wait inside the car or do you go out of the car to greet her and open the car door for her?”
Donghae scratched his temple while trying to think back to the times he went out on a date with a girl. “I just wait for her in the car. I mean, she has hands and can open the car door herself.”
Park Jungsu shook his head in disbelief, “Donghae-ah, that’s exactly what I’m talking about here. When you go on a date with a girl, as a gentleman, you have to escort the girl into your car. It’s what a man should do on a date. You have to show the girl that you’re treating her like a princess. You have to give them the sense that you care and that you love them.”
“But it’s cold outside at night. She should just quickly get into the car,” said Donghae.
Park Jungsu turned to Donghae with a confound look and slowly turned away while slowly shaking his head. He mumbled to himself “no wonder they didn’t call you the next day.”
Donghae heard his hyung mumbled and asked “What was that hyung?”
“Ani. Hurry up and finish your food. I still need to head over to the venue to see how the concert preparations are going,” said Park Jungsu as he finishes off his last bits of jajangmyun.
“Arasso. But we’re not done talking about my relationship problems” said Donghae, who was still unwilling to drop the topic.
“Donghae-ah, why don’t you just let it go? If the time comes, it’ll come. Why worry?” Park Jungsu trying hard to brush off the topic.
Donghae reverted “Hyung, of course you would say that for someone who gets what he wants all the time.” Donghae feeling a bit disappointed and just stirred his bowl of jajangmyun.
Park Jungsu looked at Donghae with a bit of pity and finally said, “Donghae-ah, why don’t we have a talk about it later tonight. We’ll go to a nearby club after dinner at my mother’s place and we’ll discuss a bit more about it, alright? And we’ll call up the others.”
Donghae liked the idea and finally brightens up, “Yeah! That’s sounds perfect hyung! We definitely have to call up Siwon and Sungmin hyung.”
*** [ Back at Sora’s end ] ***
During the first fifteen minutes of lunch, it was pure silence. Sora and her father didn’t say a word to each other, as if they were in a cold war, until her mother broke the silence. Sora’s mother brought up a topic that Sora’s been trying to avoid whenever they gather together for a family meal.
“Sora-ah, so how has it been living on your own?” asked her mother.
Sora puts down her metal spoon while swallowing her food down and said with a hand over her mouth “Oh, it’s been great! Loving every second of it” while giving her mother a thumb’s up.
“Sora-ah, but have you ever thought about finding someone? I mean, you should be out meeting other people and not just work, work, work, right yeobo?” said her mother with a concerned look.
“Omma! I think men are just a waste of time! I have far better things to do than to waste time on them. Why depend on them when I can be independent myself. Besides, I don’t have time for them and I enjoy what I do at work.” Sora said with determination and confidence.
Sora’s father glanced back and forth between his wife and Sora. “Well yeobong, I think our daughter is fine just the way she is right now. I mean, she can’t just be with any guy she comes across on the streets. She has to meet someone who has a good family background, can take good care of her and love her deeply. I won’t allow just any guy to have my only daughter, not if I can help it. Not to mention that our Sora-ah here is far too good for any man in this world!” opposed Sora’s father.
Sora looked at her father with admiration as if whatever happened earlier didn’t happen at all and said with watery eyes “Appa... ”
Her father placed his hand on Sora’s with an ‘it’s alright, daddy’s here’ look and continued “Besides, if she is to be with someone, they’ll have to pass my screening first!”
Sora’s mother still unwilling to end the conversation said “Our Sora needs to get married sooner or later and should really start finding someone…”
“Omma! I’m old enough to think for my own. I just don’t see the need to be in a relationship right now. Look! Can we just stop this conversation right now and enjoy our lunch?” Sora defending herself, to which her father also agrees “Honey, let’s leave it here for now and finish our meal. We can always discuss this matter another time when the time is right.”
Sora’s mother sighs and temporarily admits defeat for the time being. She knows that she alone cannot win against both her husband and daughter, “Arasso, arasso. Yeobo, you’re always helping your daughter whenever we have this discussion.”
Following his wife’s statement, Sora’s father raised his eye-brows and looked away from his wife’s gaze. Sora noticed her father’s reaction, to which she tried to hold her smile in. She looked at her father while he did the same. He gave her a wink to indicate he’s got her back and that there’s no need for her to worry.
However, in the Chairman’s mind, he knows deep down that someday, he will eventually need to let go of his daughter and have her form a family of her own. He understands that he can’t keep his daughter under his wings forever and that she getting married in the future is inevitable. But until that day comes, he will cherish every moment with his one and only daughter.