11 #2
“I came to Korea because of you. Because you wanted to try this hagwon idea. Because I thought we were going to help kids. It’s a utopian mission, right? Our great educational experiment. We have a lot to do. I better get back home. Do you want to come back with me? We can’t stay here.”
“Tomorrow night.”
Peter left without turning off the game.
As Mido washed the glasses in the sink, DH came out of his room.
“I changed my mind. Tek is not the one. If he was, then you’d be with him.”
“Wow,” Mido said.
“Don’t mess this up with Peter. He’s the best guy in the world. I know he’s got some hang-ups about marriage, but people like us don’t understand what it’s like to come from that kind of family.”
“Their family is not better than ours.”
“No, but they’re different.”
“So I’m learning.”
“I guess Tek is still interested,” DH said, sounding concerned.
Mido didn’t say anything. She put the beer cans in the bin.
“I hope nothing bad happens between you and Peter,” DH said, shaking his head.
“Why, because it’ll hurt your relationship with his family’s company? That’s not going to happen,” she said.
“That’s harsh,” DH said, wounded by her incisiveness. “But come to think of it, I guess if you pull the plug on Peter, then his mom won’t like it, either. And I love Renee. Please don’t hurt Renee.”
“First you don’t want me to hurt Peter, and now you’re protecting Renee. Huh. I thought you were my brother.”
“Don’t listen to me. My imagination is running wild. This is what makes me a great corporate lawyer. I can foresee all sorts of problems.”
“You’re the second person tonight who’s told me that he’s a good lawyer. That can’t be normal. Listen, there’s nothing to worry about. More importantly, you should be on my side.”
“I would step in front of a truck for you, and I trust you implicitly.”
“I’m not going to hurt anyone. I may never see Tek again. It was weird running into him today, and I wasn’t sure how to decline his dinner invitation.”
“Peter was knocked out by it.”
Mido stopped cleaning. Peter was her best friend, and it was true what he’d said earlier. He wouldn’t have come back to Seoul, the city he didn’t want to live in, unless she’d insisted that Fortress Seoul was a good idea. He had trusted her, and she had done something wrong.
“He said that it was okay for us to be friends.”
“Dummy. You can’t be friends with Tek. He’s still single, right? He wanted to marry you. Dudes don’t do that. Men are not friends with women. They wait around until you change your mind.”
“Is there a manual I never got?”
“He has something to prove, and now that you’re with Peter, an important person in Korea, Tek is going to pull out all the stops.”
Mido stared at him like he was crazy.
“Okay. Where did he take you to dinner?”
“Palace Gate?” She was pretty sure that was the name.
“That’s the most expensive galbi place in Korea.” DH said this with the certainty of having won an argument.
Mido poured herself a glass of water and went to the sofa. It surprised her to think that DH would worry, or that Peter wouldn’t trust her.
DH sat and put his arm around her shoulder.
“Now let’s think about something else entirely, because I have big news,” he said.
“What?”
“Bo called.”
“Is Dad okay?”
“It’s not about me. Or you.”
“Spit it out, DH!” Mido was too tired for DH’s games.
“Danbi Jung and George Hong were arrested.”
“Ajeossi’s wife? I mean Mr. Shin.”
“Yeah, well, sort of wife,” DH said, shaking his head.
“George Hong? Isn’t he an elder? Dad’s on some committee with him, right?”
“They’re all elders. Fucking bonkers.”
“What did they do?”
“Turns out Danbi and George took money from the church building fund, and Danbi embezzled premiums from their insurance clients. George confessed to the whole thing.”
“That’s crazy. So why did Bo call you? Just to tell you this?” It wasn’t like their brother to gossip.
“Mr. Shin’s lawyer wanted to speak with Dad. Dad called Bo, and Bo called me, because I’m the consigliere.”
“Huh?”
“I’m the general counsel. The family lawyer?”
Mido was confused. “Didn’t Mr. Shin and that woman hurt Dad’s career?
I mean, Dad lost his job after the IMF Crisis, but he would’ve been better situated if she hadn’t falsely accused him.
Mom only told me a little about it, and Aunt Sonya just said that we should never ever deal with Danbi Jung.
Not even say hi. Yun told me that she and Lion couldn’t buy insurance from them. ”
Mido paused for a drink of water.
“Mom said she could forgive anyone who hurt her, but it was impossible to forgive anyone who hurt Dad,” Mido said, remembering the time she’d asked her mother why their family avoided his oldest friend. “I think Dad had sort of forgiven him, but Mom disliked that woman till the very end.”
“Can’t imagine Mommy not forgiving someone,” DH said.
“Hang on,” Mido said, recalling something he’d said earlier. “And what did you mean, ‘sort of wife’?”
“Turns out, Mary Ajumma and Ajeossi never got a divorce. And now she’s out in California trying to help him.”
“No way.”
“Yeah. And Joey—”
“He’s the oldest son, right?” Mido tried to remember him. It had been years since she last saw Mary Ajumma and her sons.
“Yeah. Joey and Luke are both lawyers. Anyway, Joey had to hire a white-collar lawyer for his dad in California. Ajeossi is so fucked.”