Chapter Nine
Seoul, Korea
Timira assumes it’s Hanee when she hears a knock on the door.
‘Come on in, uri Honey!’ she shouts out warmly without bothering to look up as she rummages through the top drawer of her desk, frantically looking for something.
So when an unfamiliar honeyed voice that sounds nothing like Hanee’s greets her, she hurriedly slams the drawer shut and in the process squashes her fingers.
‘Ow!’ she yelps in pain and promptly stuffs her index and middle fingers inside her mouth.
The unfamiliar voice rushes towards Timira to check how badly she is hurt.
To answer, Timira finally looks up and takes a long, hard look at the owner of the strange voice.
Scenes from the parking lot flash before her eyes and sting her.
Reeling a little from the surprise, she tries hard to gather her wits and respond appropriately but is unable to find her voice and keeps sucking on her fingers.
‘Ms Marak, are you in a lot of pain? Shall I get some first aid?’
Dude, open your mouth and say something … Timira’s inner voice is shouting. Say what? I don’t wish to speak to my …
‘ Dushman !’
‘I beg your pardon?’
Oh, shit! Did I say that out loud? Good going, Timira!
‘Never mind, I was only mumbling to myself. Um, hi, Ms Ri! I wasn’t expecting to see you. May I ask what brings you here?’
Timira looks visibly uncomfortable. She remembers how Mina had her arms around Haneul and feels a stab inside her chest. Mina doesn’t fail to notice how ill at ease Timira looks and can’t help but smile a little.
‘I was here to meet Stephanie, so I thought I’d pop in and say hi.’
Say hi? What the hell? How does she even know me?
‘Uh, that’s very sweet of you,’ Timira lies effortlessly. ‘Would you like me to show you to her cabin?’ Timira is finally able to gain access to her stores of courage and sarcasm.
‘Why, thank you! You must think I’m lost, how cute.
This isn’t my first visit to SecondSkin, you know.
You see, Stephanie is one of my best friends, my father has invested in this company, and my fiancé is the owner.
But I like how na?ve you are. Very cute!
’ All guns blazing, Mina makes her intentions known and displays with pride her rather well-stocked arsenal, but does so behind a veil of saccharine sweetness which immediately enamours Timira.
Wow, her English is perfect. No hint of an accent. And what are those teeth? How can they be so white? Timira quickly observes as Mina wastes no time in baring her fangs.
‘Sure, good for you. But I’m not sure how that explains your presence in my cabin, Ms Ri!’
‘Please call me Mina. You needn’t be formal with me.’
Unable to bring herself to feel comfortable, Tim continues to speak formally. ‘That’s very kind of you, but I still don’t understand what it is that you’ve actually come to say. Come to think of it, I don’t recall us being introduced …’
‘Precisely! I’m here to formally introduce my—’
Mina is unable to finish with Timira rudely cutting in. She has decided to repay the rudeness with some of her own. ‘In any case, I don’t see much need for an introduction either. Certainly not yet!’
Dang! That came out really nasty. Am I being too obvious? Ugh, what a chudail I am. Why am I being rude to her? This is no fault of hers. This is ALL on me. And that Korean Adonis fiancé of hers with his dancing eyes and bewitching smile. Stupid Adonis, stupid me!
Taken aback by Timira’s brusqueness, Mina recoils and takes a moment to plan her next course of action. She has no idea that Timira is trying hard to be her usual affable self but failing miserably.
Omo, omo! What is that acid? Does she even know who I am?
Argh, I can’t believe I’m having to keep calm and take this BS.
What do those boys even see in her? She just has a ton of dark hair to hide her fat cheeks!
Breathe, Mina, breathe. She can’t hold a candle to you!
She clearly thinks attack is the best kind of defence. Uh, loser!
Pretending as though her ability to read between the lines has taken the day off, Mina prattles on.
‘I’m sorry I’ve arrived unannounced. I just felt, given the fact that Rodrigo plays for my club and is your client, it might be nice for us to know one another.’
Mina’s voice is a tad too sweet. She’s making a superhuman effort at not losing her cool and desperately holding on to the facade of coolness.
‘Well, thankfully, I’m not part of the client servicing team. In case you need directions, I’m happy to have my assistant guide you!’ Timira’s tone is icy.
Where is this nasty coming from, bro? Tim, stop! Stop before you embarrass yourself. Why are you venting at her?!
Mina, unrelenting, refuses to let it go. Laughing a little, as though Timira has been teasing her, she keeps talking.
‘You’re funny! Of course I know you aren’t on the client servicing team. Like, duh!’ Mina rolls her eyes and continues to smile. ‘It’s just that I felt I should step in, in case you held anything against Stephanie …’
Timira can now feel the anger bomb inside her ticking away furiously. She had spent the previous night trying to forget what had gone down at the stadium and now everything was coming rushing back.
‘You see, getting Rodrigo was actually my idea. Stephanie only went along with it because … well, because she and I go back a long way but, more importantly, because this company needs him right now.’
Is she here to tell me how much she loves her Asian Adonis and how this is all for him?
Good grief, what is this chalta-phirta drama I’ve gotten pulled into?
Why did Alice tell me all drama plots were lies?
Everything is true. Uff, I should’ve paid more attention.
Or not. Why should I care? I’m a supporting character in my own life’s drama.
My sodding luck! Villain bann jaun? Tabah kar doon kisi ki zindagi?
Khushiyan chheen loon? Mogambo bann jaati hoon, at least khush toh ho jaungi!
‘Mina, what are you doing in Ms Marak’s cabin?’ Tim’s Megamind plans are interrupted by Haneul’s nasal baritone speaking in slightly accented but perfect English.
‘Oh, hi. I’m sorry, I was visiting Stephanie and just wanted to greet Ms Marak on my way out. She’s new in the city, I was only …’
Mina mumbles incoherently, fumbling for words as she recalls the previous evening—Haneul’s face as he blocked Rodrigo from following Timira comes back to haunt her and twists her insides.
She and Haneul had gone to school together.
She had followed him all the way to Paris where he went to study business management and had helped him through every loss, every heartbreak, every downer until one day her parents informed her that they were to be engaged.
She had loved him all her life with all her heart, but she knew that he felt nothing for her.
He had tried to persuade her to not agree to the engagement, but she refused to accede to his demands because she had been his best friend for too long and now longed to be more.
She knew her father wielded enough power for Haneul’s family to coerce him into the engagement.
She hoped that Haneul would eventually learn to love her.
She believed he would see the truth in her feelings and honesty in her love for him and that would make him reciprocate.
But to her utter dismay, she had been unable to plant the seed of love in his heart, and even their friendship had only soured since the engagement.
She hoped that by helping Haneul sign Rodrigo, she might finally be able to find a way into his heart.
But after witnessing the events at the stadium, she had started to think that she might’ve got ahead of herself and ruined whatever little chance she might’ve had.
Timira, meanwhile, is unnaturally agitated at Haneul’s intervention—now that she knows he isn’t single, she has decided to put an end to all K-romance fantasies and focus only on work—and before she can put a lid on it, she can hear her voice expressing it loudly and clearly.
As usual, her mouth has outrun her brain.
‘Excuse me, Mr Baek. Can I help? Do you need anything?’ Timira asks Haneul. Her otherwise cheerful face is now devoid of expression and her tone frosty.
Haneul doesn’t know what to say. Two ladies, one his fiancée-slash-investor’s daughter and the other his senior employee, are chatting. He really has no business butting in.
‘Er, no. Since you haven’t been introduced to each other, I was wondering …’ Haneul stammers.
‘Wondering what, Mr Baek?’ Timira asks quizzically.
‘Yes, Haneul. Wondering what?’ Mina chimes in. She’s suddenly starting to enjoy this and her mood seems to be improving.
Wondering if Mina is giving Timira a hard time.
Wondering why my life must be this complicated.
Haneul knows that Mina’s eyes, alongside everybody else’s, were on him during his little showdown with Rodrigo.
I wish I hadn’t made it so obvious , but he knows it’s too late.
Mina is perceptive and has known Haneul nearly all his life. She knows him the way few others do.
‘Nothing. Nothing at all,’ he scowls at nobody in particular.
‘Oh, okay then. I’ll pop into your cabin in a sec, jagiya ,’ Mina smiles wickedly. She is never one to indulge in displays of affection at the workplace, but today she seems to be feeling it.
Timira knows what jagiya means—lover, darling, dearest, honey. She groans under her breath and has to make a valiant effort to keep calm.
It’s been a minute and by now curious eyes have begun to hover outside Timira’s cabin. Their voices, hushed at first, have increased in volume and their murmurs are no longer gentle.