Chapter 9 The Product Closet
The Product Closet
Julia
“Hey, are you guys gonna come out with any of those new faux freckles? Or the eyebrow gems?”
Julia couldn’t believe she was doing this. She opened her big mouth at the very last second, in a moment of weakness, just
as they were saying their goodbyes at the café and she’d be free of Jisoo and her huge engagement ring . . . and invited Jisoo
into the Starlight Product Closet to make gift bags for her bridesmaids. She hadn’t expected Jisoo to call her the very next
day. But here they were. After having not spoken to her in over a year, she was now chitchatting away with her childhood frenemy
twice in one week.
Making matters worse, Julia had work to do. She was worried about her company and the next steps for its growth, maximizing
the exposure from the Oprah effect. To enter the Korean market or not to enter the Korean market, that was the question. But
instead of focusing on stuff that mattered, here she was answering questions about the over-the-top Korean makeup trends.
Great.
“Do doctors wear faux freckles and eyebrow gems?” It came out snarkier than Julia had wanted. Oh well.
“When they’re not saving lives, they do.”
Point, Jisoo.
“But this is for my bridesmaids, and these girls love the newest makeup trends coming out of Korea. Seriously, Korean brands
really know how to lead the market.”
“Yeah, well, we don’t really carry the trendy stuff.”
“No, I know. Starlight is all about quality. That’s why I love it more than the other brands.”
“You mean the real Korean brands.”
Jisoo looked at her, and Julia fought the fidget that was screaming to manifest with the attention. “Starlight isn’t considered
a real Korean brand?” Jisoo asked. “Funny, because everyone I know thinks it is. In fact, it’s like a source of pride for
us Korean Americans to have this in the marketplace. A company founded by a second gen? That’s something to celebrate.”
Julia wasn’t sure how to take that. It was a huge compliment. It was what she’d wanted to hear from her customers, her investors,
her own family. It was a statement that showed someone got it, understood what Julia wanted to do when she created Starlight.
She just didn’t expect it from Jisoo.
But wasn’t Jisoo exactly the target consumer? Maybe she was doing something right.
Julia felt the vibration of her phone and quickly looked down at the unknown number. She usually didn’t pick up direct phone
calls from people she wasn’t sure of, but she’d been hoping with all the recent attention and success that she’d be getting
more communication from potential investors.
“Hello?”
“May I speak to Julia Song, please?”
“This is.”
“Julia, hello. This is Michael Lee. I got your phone number from my . . .” he stalled “. . . well, from my mother, of all people.” He laughed, and it gave away his nervousness.
Julia racked her brain to identify the name.
Was this a budding businessman who needed some advice?
Or was this someone looking for product for his—
“I usually don’t let my mother set me up on dates, but when I googled you, I was surprised to find that you were legit. Quite
impressive,” he said.
Oh shit. It was a setup. The first. Without any forewarning. Julia was going to give her mom an earful after this.
“Uh, oh, um, hi.” Julia was still processing the fact that this guy had googled her. The nerve. After she hung up with him,
got rid of Jisoo, gave her mom an earful, and googled Michael Lee herself, she was going to have to look up what he might
have found online about her.
“So I was wondering if you have a free night next week for dinner?”
Julia closed her eyes and counted to three. She could do this. So what that it was an incredibly busy time for her at work
and she rarely left the office before eight? It didn’t have to be awful, she reminded herself of Tae’s words. Just dive in
and get it over with, see what could happen.
“Sure, dinner sounds great. How does Wednesday work for you?” she asked.
“Wednesday is perfect. How about I text you the name of the restaurant and we meet at, say, seven?”
“Maybe seven thirty so we can avoid any potential traffic,” Julia suggested.
“I doubt that will be an issue at seven.”
Was this guy nuts? Depending on where the restaurant was, seven o’clock could be the worst time in LA for traffic. But whatever.
Julia stifled her irritated sigh. “Okay. Great. I’ll wait for your text. See you then.”
“Really looking forward to it, Julia.”
Julia hung up the phone and dropped her head.
“They call you directly.”
Julia shot her head back up and stared at Jisoo. She had totally forgotten she wasn’t alone. Had Jisoo eavesdropped on the conversation? Granted, they were in a ten-foot by twelve-foot product closet with no other sound. But rude.
“The setups. I was surprised too. I was getting calls from numbers I didn’t recognize with random men’s voices on the other
side. I thought my mom would at least give me a heads-up, ya know?”
That’s right, Jisoo had been set up too. She, of all people, understood exactly what Julia was going through.
“How awkward is it, on a scale of one to ten?” Julia asked.
“Ten being walking down the street with your skirt tucked into your underwear, I’d say at least a nine.”
“Shit.”
Jisoo laughed. “I’m kidding. I mean, it’s a little demeaning. We’re gorgeous, successful women who in the eyes of our families
have failed in some way because we haven’t found the life partner by some arbitrary deadline age. So they’ll take matters
into their own capable hands,” Jisoo said, emphasizing with air quotes, “and do the work for us?”
Jisoo’s words hit Julia hard. She hadn’t even considered how this would be for Jisoo too. She was a doctor, a successful one.
And there was no denying that Jisoo was stunning along the likes of Korean Hallyu stars. “Yeah, well, I’m the sucker who possibly
got guilt-tripped by my halmoni to agree to the matchmaking,” Julia confessed.
“Was it the I-spent-all-my-money-to-get-us-to-America bit?”
Julia shook her head. “It was the I-want-to-see-you-married-before-I-die line.”
“Ahhh, yes. Do you remember Julie Kim? Her grandma used that one on her too. She was set up and married within three months.”
Julia gave out a small, breathy laugh. If she didn’t laugh, she might end up crying instead. There was a tiny bit of guilt about laughing at her grandmother’s con on the small chance it wasn’t a con at all.
“Jisoo, if I brought my grandmother in to see you, could you give her a complete physical?”
“I could, but I wouldn’t be able to tell you any of the findings without her approval.”
“Damn, you’re unshakable.” Julia wasn’t sure if she should be irritated or impressed. She was probably somewhere in the middle.
“Just good at my job,” Jisoo said as she pulled down four bottles of the sulfate-free green tea clarifying shampoo and put
them into her basket.
“But if my grandma was sick, could you help us maybe make sense of what her doctor was saying?”
Jisoo kept her eyes on the products on the shelf, but Julia saw her throat move as she swallowed before responding.
“Is Halmoni sick?” Jisoo asked, her voice even, careful.
“I don’t know,” Julia answered honestly. “We’re going to see her doctor in a few weeks. I was hoping for an earlier appointment,
but . . .”
Jisoo nodded. “Text me the doctor’s name. I’ll see if I can help free something up. And afterward, call me when you get the
information. I’ll go over it with both of you, answer any further questions you might have,” she replied.
“Thanks,” Julia said, a wave of relief running through her. In a sea of helplessness threatening to drown her, Jisoo, of all
people, felt like a lifeboat.
“Who was the guy,” Jisoo lifted her chin toward Julia’s phone, “if you don’t mind me asking? When I was going through the
setups, it turned out that the circles of successful women and the men that are considered suitable were quite small. I had
recycled setups that some of my friends had already gone on dates with.”
“This is getting worse with every new piece of information you give me. Maybe I should remain blissfully ignorant and take the punches of being ambushed out of nowhere.”
Jisoo shrugged and turned back toward the shelves of product as if completely disinterested in Julia’s agony. Her basket was
looking very full by now, but Julia wasn’t going to be stingy about it.
“His name is Michael Lee, I think he said.”
Jisoo nodded knowingly. “If it’s Michael Lee from Fullerton, he’s a lawyer. I didn’t date him, but one of my coworkers did.
If I recall, he’s a nice guy. No red flags.”
“Except for some failed setups ahead of mine?”
“Look, we may be agreeing to these setups, but when it comes down to it, it’s still our choice to make, right? You think he’s
a loser, don’t go out with him again. Simple as that.”
Was it, though? Julia wondered. She was still the one who had to go on the dates, and that wasn’t something Julia had ever
been successful at. The end game was to find someone who would stick long after just the first setup. Therein lay the problem.
Julia had yet to meet someone who could see past the awful first date and hang around for more. Or anyone she wanted to.
“You look unconvinced. Julia, your parents are gonna find some guys who might be great, or they might not be. But you have
to have chemistry and enjoy being around them. It’s you that has to date them and eventually decide what happens next. We
always make it seem like they—the man—chooses us. But it can be us who chooses them . . . or not.”
Julia liked this perspective Jisoo was presenting her with, control being in her own hands. It was along the same lines as
what Tae had said yesterday. But was it that simple? “Yeah, I guess you’re right. Though, it pains me to say it.” She smiled
at Jisoo, who gave her a raised eyebrow and shoulder shrug back.