Chapter 13
Seoul, South Korea
~Kim Taeyung~
"YOUR FAMILY OWNS THIS WHOLE BUILDING! ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME!?" She yelled probably louder than she intended.
I chuckled, her reaction to my money wasn't surprising.
"Yes, my family owns a lot of the buildings in Seoul." I confirmed.
The hostess brought us to the room opening the door.
I pulled the chair out for her to take a seat, and hostess placed the menus down. Looking at me, she said "Your server will be here in a moment." She bowed and exited the room.
"That's insane. No wonder you're such a cocky privileged dick." She muttered under her breath, just loud enough I could hear.
"That's no way to talk to the person buying you dinner." I teased, leaning forward my elbows on the table.
"I don't have to eat here but thank you still. And I haven't said it to you for your earlier assistance. So, thanks for helping me when I was a mess. Don't tell Cherry you found me like that, please. I don't want her to worry or blame herself." She looked down at the table, shifting nervously in her seat.
"You're welcome. I won't tell her, but can you tell me why you were like that?" I wanted to know what could break someone with so much fire.
"No." She said firmly. But not harshly.
"Why not?"
"Because I don't want to, so I won't." She answered all her strength back in her voice.
"Fine, I won't push it. What are you really studying here?" I asked. Because there's no way someone who likes her is actually into games and coding.
"Coding and graphics. I might not look the part, Mr. Kim. But I can assure you, I'm good enough to get in here on a full ride scholarship and grants." She leaned forward her hands resting closed in front of her now. Sitting up a little more, with more confidence.
"Prove it. Take my phone and design a simple game with code." I slid my phone across the table.
"No. I don't need to prove myself to you, or anyone. I know what I'm capable of and that's enough for me. I'm here to learn, not perform like a circus monkey." She had her fire back now.
No one ever spoke like this to me, or rejected a chance at showing off and it was so fascinating how little she held back.
"Wow, no one ever dismisses an opportunity to prove their skill to me. Why do you?" I was curious why she was so resistant.
"Because you demand things, you don't ask for them, and I have a nasty habit of being pretty defiant." She smiled deviously at me.
Oh boy, she was going to be trouble. That's for sure.
"I am starting a gaming company, if you're good enough, maybe I'll hire you." I was serious.
"Maybe?" She raised one of her eyebrows questioning me.
The waiter walked in. "Good evening, Mr. Kim, what can I start you off with?"
"A bottle ofone of your merlot's. Hanwoo with truffled mashed potatoes." I told the waiter.
"A water, with lemon, and the Naengmyeon for me please. Thank you." She answered in Korean. I forgot she spoke it so fluently.
The waiter seemed surprised as well.
He bowed and left without a word.
"I forget you speak Korean so well."
"My Abeoji is Korean." She answered, her accent was pretty good too.
"You said that. Your mother isn't?"
"No, she's Puerto Rican." She answered, a slight look of sadness flashed across her face.
But I left it alone. She's rejected enough of my fishing expedition.
I'd just get the information from Mr. Jin.
"What about you? What are you going to school for?" She asked.
"Finance. Every man in my family has a master's in it before they qualify for taking over." I explained.
"That kinda sucks, can't even pick your own major." She wasn't wrong. "What would you study, if you could pick it?"
"I'd study coding too. I've always had a knack for tech."
"Hmm… so, you're a nerd…" She joked.
I laughed, "I guess I am. No one has ever called me that before."
"Maybe more people should. Have you considered minoring in the tech field?"
No, now that she mentioned it, I haven't. I've always been so goal focused I nnever took the time to consider anything else.
My Eomeoni would agree to anything if I push hard enough and keep promising her a daughter-in-law and agree to a blind date.
It's my Abeoji that would have a problem with me doing anything other than finance.
"That is a forbidden idea, only finance is in my future, I'll take over the position of CEO eventually." I admitted to her.
"That's a lot of pressure. I'm sorry." She said in English.
"Yeah, I guess it is. I don't really think about it though." Which was true, I never did. At least not before now.
The rest of dinner was pretty smooth, we vibed effortlessly. When she laughed, I couldn't help but want to hear it more. Be the reason for it.
I was captivated.
She was mine. now There was no doubt about it. She just needed to realize it.
"I'll take you back to the dorm now." I didn't want too, but I had no reason to keep her longer.
"Yeah, my curfew is coming up soon anyways, and the doom patrol is pretty horrendous this year, I guess, according to dorm gossip." She groaned.
"Doom Patrol?" What? I laughed.
"Yes! Because if they catch you, you're doomed!" She laughed.
"That is the lamest dad joke I think I've ever heard." I shook my head.
"Yeah. I know." She stood up from the seat. The hoodie swallowed her whole; it was longer than the dress. Was I really that big compared to her?
We drove back in silence, not the awkward kind, but the relaxed one. It was comfortable, it felt like we've done this a hundred times.
Pulling up, we sat for a moment in the car neither of us moving. But then she unclipped her seat belt and looked at me with a soft smile.
"This was pretty nice. This side of you isn't so bad." Her voice was sweet, gentle even as she teased me.
"You're not what I expected when I met you on the plane."
"People aren't monolithic Kim Taeyung." She answered, she sounded so wise. I think my Halmeoni would like her a lot.
"Phoebe Park, you are exceptionally wise." I teased her back a little.
"I'll see you around." She said getting out of the car. She shut the door. Her body swayed like she invented femineity, even drowning in my hoodie she still had a way of making it move with her body.
She didn't look back, or slow down. She just walked away like the time we spent was average.
She was something else.