Chapter 31 Cake
Cake
Julia
“I’m gonna miss you so much. What will I do without you?” Sonia hugged Julia tight.
“You promised that you’d FaceTime in for Sunday brunches,” Rachel reminded her.
“I promise. It’ll be Monday afternoons for me and perfect timing. And I’ll only be in Korea for six months. You’ll barely
even notice I’m gone before I’m back.”
“What, did you suddenly get injected with a cheer serum to prepare for Korea?” Rachel asked. Rachel hated cheer.
Julia grabbed her and kissed her on the cheek. “I know you’re happy for me.”
“I am happy for you. You’re making big moves. And you’re doing them on your own terms. You don’t need a big, huge company
and their big, huge money and their big, huge opportunity and that big, huge man—”
Sonia quickly covered Rachel’s mouth with her hand. “We’re in Julia’s parents’ home, for God’s sake!”
Julia was going to miss them, miss this so much.
She’d considered everything Andrew Lim and Hansuk Holdings had offered her and her company.
But Julia didn’t feel entirely comfortable giving up control of Starlight.
Andrew was right about one thing, though: she had to learn the Korean market before deciding what was next for them.
So Julia decided to go spend some time there on her own.
Six months to entrench herself in the market and learn as much as she could.
She figured it could only help her and Starlight in the long run, whether they decided to go global or not.
Andrew, to his credit, was incredibly supportive, and Julia hoped she’d made a friend in this industry through their interactions.
He was a good person to have in her corner.
“How are you feeling about everything?” Sonia asked.
Julia took a second to think about it. “I’m excited, for sure. And I’ve been thinking about getting out to Korea for a while
now. Doing it on my own terms feels right. But honestly? I’m nervous too. Running Starlight remotely will be challenging,
though I have a great team to support me. And experiencing Korea firsthand, not just through a TV screen or through Korean
products, that’s gonna be new.”
“See all the sights. Buy all the things. Eat all the food. Have all the sex,” Rachel encouraged Julia.
“Rachel,” Sonia gasped.
“What? You want Julia to be celibate the whole time she’s there? That’s six months. How will she survive?” Rachel asked.
“Um, hate to break it to you, Rachel, but I’ve survived six-month stretches without sex before,” Julia confessed.
Rachel’s eyes grew to the size of saucers. Clearly, this was unfathomable to her. She opened her mouth to respond, but no
words came out.
“Don’t worry. I’m taking Bob with me,” Julia said.
“Yeah, it’s unclear if Korea is as advanced in sex-toy technology as it is in other areas, so it’s good to bring your own
trusted resource,” Sonia said.
Julia just shook her head. Per usual, all roads led back to the battery operated boyfriend.
“But there will be so many men to choose from out there,” Rachel whined.
Julia shrugged. She wasn’t ready to be dating or thinking of other men just yet. She’d let herself off the hook with feeling
less-than, for feeling a failure by being single and unattached. The setups might not have gone as well as she’d hoped. But
she didn’t place the blame all on herself. Chemistry didn’t just happen because someone wanted it to. It happened when it
was right. And she could wait for that. She still wanted a relationship and a partner. But she wasn’t going to rush it or
let other people’s expectations force her into it. She was okay with going to Korea to date herself for a while, as weird
as that sounded.
“Don’t listen to her, Julia,” Sonia said, grabbing Julia’s arm. “Now, more importantly, do you have my shopping wish list
tucked away somewhere you won’t lose it?”
Julia laughed and kissed Sonia on the top of her head. “Yup, and I’ll make sure to pick up everything on those . . . ten pages,
was it?”
“Julia, girls. Come, come. It’s cake time,” Julia’s dad said enthusiastically. “We have to celebrate our Julia’s big trip.
Watch out, Korea! The CEO of Starlight is on her way.” Her parents were thrilled for her to go to Korea. One because they
were going to come and visit her in a couple months. Neither of them had been back to the motherland in decades. Julia was
so excited for them to explore how much Korea had grown. She was excited for herself as well. And the second reason her parents
were so pumped for her? Well, after three failed setups, they’d promised to never pressure her again about her love life.
But she’d overheard her mom talking to her aunts about all the eligible bachelors in Korea. If she heard correctly, her mother
had likened it to a buffet, which honestly made Julia a little queasy. Great. Her mother just really couldn’t help herself.
Looked like Julia would have to disappoint both Rachel and her mom. Oh well.
“Now, before we cut the cake, I want to tell you, Julia, how proud I am of you. You are an incredible young woman, smart, savvy, strong, successful. I raised you to take the most out of life, not to be small, but to make a big impact. And that’s exactly what I’m most proud of, that you’re able to make the best of every situation and opportunity, like this one in front of you.
We’re so excited for what’s in store for you in Korea. ”
She smiled, and the tears flowed. “Thanks, Dad.”
The doorbell rang, and Julia’s heart stopped.
Of all the people that mattered to Julia the most, the one that was not here was Tae. She’d sat in front of her email or phone
numerous times, wanting to type out something, anything. Her fingers just wouldn’t move. And they’d agreed to give each other
time and space.
He’d kept that promise to her.
Still, Julia knew Tae’s ear was connected to the Korean Gossip Network. So he had to know that she was leaving for Korea.
“I’ll get it,” she said, willing herself to slowly walk, not run, to the door. She took a deep breath, straightened her posture,
and opened it.
“Hi.”
“Oh, hi. What are you doing here?” Julia shook her head. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean it like that. It’s so good to see you.
Wanna come in?”
Jisoo Kang entered Julia’s house like she’d done hundreds of times in the past growing up. She was in hospital scrubs with
her hair tied back, a stark contrast to how Julia had seen her last time in Starlight’s Product Closet. It hit her then. Jisoo
was a badass doctor, and Julia could think of few things cooler than that. Why had they let all the comparisons put on them
by other people cause this rift between them?
“Here,” Jisoo said, holding out a small bag. “I put together a little care package for the flight. It’s small so should fit in your carry-on. Just some snacks and fuzzy socks and a deck of cards. Silly stuff.”
Julia stared down at the gift bag. It was one of those unexpected moments that bore with it so much more weight than one ever
expected. She was incredibly touched. “Thank you. That’s so nice,” she said and meant it.
“I just wanted to stop by and see you off. This sounds like a really amazing opportunity. Not gonna lie, I’m so jealous. I
haven’t been to Korea in forever.”
“Yeah, me neither.” Julia suddenly lifted her eyes just as Jisoo lifted hers, and realization hit them both. “Wait, the last
time either of us was in Korea was when we went together when we were ten?”
Jisoo’s eyes widened in surprise. “I guess so. Wow, that’s crazy. That was a fun summer, though. I don’t know why I’m always
surprised so much of our lives are intertwined with each other. I feel like there are very few memories I have that don’t
include you.”
Again, Julia wondered why they’d grown apart.
“I also thought I should tell you—” Jisoo cleared her throat before continuing “—that I broke off my engagement.”
“Really? Oh my gosh, what happened? Um, are you okay?” Julia wasn’t sure why Jisoo chose to tell her, but she worried about
her, nonetheless. They’d both been in the dating trenches, but Jisoo had made it out. Now she was pulled back in. It couldn’t
be easy on her.
“Yeah, actually,” she sighed as she nodded, “I am. I was never supposed to marry Eric. I can’t say that I ever really loved
him. Or, at least, I never gave myself time to find out if I could. We rushed into it. I think I just let the pressure and
expectation get to me, ya know? And I convinced myself that he was right. When I honestly knew all along he wasn’t.”
Julia wondered if she’d ever been at risk of crossing that line. Though, no one she’d ever dated felt anywhere near close
to being The One.
Except for Tae. And they’d never really defined their relationship. Had they even been dating?
“Well, I’m sorry. But I’m glad you figured it out before you actually got married.”
“Yeah,” Jisoo said and smiled, “me too.”
“I’m sure your parents looped you in, but if it makes you feel any better, my setups were all failures.”
“It does, thanks. They were destined to be flops from the start.”
She furrowed her brow and glared at Jisoo. Well, that was rude. Jisoo had no faith in Julia’s dating abilities either. Great.
Jisoo’s smile was huge. “Just being honest. It’s nice not being the only single one left. And I didn’t mean they were flops
because of you. I meant, well, because of you and Tae. I saw you two together, remember? I knew it right away. Nobody else
stood a chance.”
“How did you know . . .” Julia furrowed her brow as she let the question trail off. She and Tae weren’t together long enough
for anyone to know, really. There wasn’t anything noteworthy to know.
Jisoo shrugged. “There was just something between you two, something obvious.”
“Really? I don’t know, that surprises me. But in the end, that didn’t work out either. The me-and-Tae thing.”
“Oh? I didn’t realize you two had started . . .”
“We didn’t really, I guess.” Julia shook it off. “Anyways, we’re not really talking now. Giving each other some time and space.”
“Seriously? Time and space. Huh, sounds . . . nebulous. That’s too bad. Hey, Julia?”
“Yeah?” Julia replied.
“Remember when we were in middle school, and we accidentally knocked over that big candle in the church sanctuary and it burned down the whole altar? And Tae didn’t talk to us for two weeks and you were mad at him for being mad at us?
And it turned out that he was grounded because he took the blame for it so we wouldn’t get in trouble and wasn’t mad at us after all?
” Jisoo detailed out the contents of her entire memory bank.
“Um, that’s not how I remember it at all. In fact, I was mad at you because you were the one who was trying to steal some
of the communion wafers under the altar and knocked over the candle that set the place aflame and got us in trouble in the
first place, and I didn’t talk to Tae because I was the one who was grounded . . . because of you,” Julia corrected her.
“You were mad at me?”
“You’re an arsonist!”
“But I just broke off an engagement!”
“What does that have anything to do with anything?”
The two of them stared at each . . . and burst out laughing. Julia laughed so hard she doubled over, grabbing her stomach.
She couldn’t breathe. Jisoo wiped tears daintily away from her eyes.
“You should talk to him,” Jisoo finally said as their laughter died down. “The point I’m trying to make is I think you guys
have a lot to say to each other. And, well, it would suck if you both left without clearing the air.”
Both left? Was Tae going somewhere?
“He’s going back to Chicago,” Jisoo answered the question Julia was too afraid to ask.
Her heart stopped. He was leaving. Going back to a life that had made him miserable. But why? Was it because of Julia? She
felt the ache everywhere, her chest, her lungs, her stomach.
Julia needed to stop obsessing over everything she heard about Tae. She was worried about how codependent she felt. Time away
in Korea was going to be good for her. She needed to start focusing on herself.
And she had to trust Tae to make his own life’s decisions.
“Oh.” It was all Julia could get out from within the jumbled mess of her brain.
Jisoo reached out and squeezed Julia’s hand. “Talk to him,” she said in her doctor voice.
Julia would. Talk to him. At some point. But right now, she wanted to focus on herself. Her life’s worth wasn’t dependent
on whether she was dateable or not. It wasn’t dependent on whether her company sold in Korea or not. What mattered was that
she was living for the bar she’d set for herself. Not what others set for her. Julia was going to make her thirties the best
ever. Let all the other chips fall where they might.
She smiled and shrugged. “Good talk, Jisoo. Thanks for the walk down memory lane. And thanks for the advice. I’ll store it
away for the next time I actually ask for it.” Julia couldn’t help herself.
“You do you,” Jisoo shot back. “At least if we’re both single, I won’t get so much shit for it.”
The two of them smiled at each other. Julia meant hers. She thought Jisoo did too. Frenemies indeed.
“Wanna stay for some cake?” Julia asked.
“Absolutely,” Jisoo answered.