Chapter 12: Chapter 12

Hojoon recalled the impression of this woman who came to see him at the office with her mother last time. He conjured up the glittering eyes of her mother who wanted her to marry by the end of this year.

“Did you tell your mother of your decision?”

“Not yet.”

Probably she couldn’t tell her mother she would live as a single woman.

Hojoon seized the chance to cut in, “This week or next week if you’re busy this week, let me stop by your house and give you a consultation if you’re available. It’s too early for you to give up. You’ve been promoted, which is a good message. It would have been better if it had been a man. It’s a very good sign that a change has happened in your life, namely a change in the spirit. If you stop there, the spirit will be broken.”

Hojoon could not make her give up not because of her expensive consultation fee but because of her desperate efforts. She could not open her mouth.

A little later, she broke the silence and said, “Do you go to church?”

“What?”

“I don’t have time during weekdays. Are you available on Sunday afternoon?”

“Sure, I’ll see you then”

Bowing politely to him, she left the conference room.

Hoo~ Ha~

Hojoon let out the breath he held a minute ago. He felt stuffy just by being with her.

“Aren’t you going to another meeting?” asked Heemang, sticking his head out.

“Oh shoot!”

Hojoon forgot to attend his other meeting.

Though he hurried up, it looked like he would be late by thirty minutes. As it was approaching rush hour, there was severe traffic congestion on the roads.

As he made it a rule to be punctual, he felt he should not be late to the meeting. He had to call right away.

“This is President Hojoon Lee. I have agreed to meet you.”

He felt uncomfortable as he thought he would take the client’s precious time by being late.

But the client was in a similar situation.

“Oh my… I’m so sorry. I should have called you earlier. You must be waiting for me, right? I’m afraid I can’t go to see you today.”

Hojoon straightened up upon hearing that.

This client had asked Hojoon to remodel his son’s house, whose life was drifting since he got divorced. When he met the client, he had a real reason. He let out a sigh, complaining that his son was dating a woman, but he didn’t want to get married, just content with dating her.

Initially, the client was opposed to his son’s girlfriend. But he changed his mind. He had no reason to reject her, who had wealth and a good job. He wanted both of them to get remarried. The problem was that his son didn’t want remarriage, announcing that just one marriage was enough, and that he would only date women.

After reading the client’s mind on his first visit, Hojoon agreed to meet him again with the geomancy advice of his own. According to the client, his son invited his parents to a dinner, saying he wanted to introduce his girlfriend to them.

“Congratulations!” said Hojoon.

“My son says he wants to have the type of food that his mother would like to have.”

“Really? Which restaurant has he chosen?”

“Well, it’s Mugunghwa Korean Restaurant. It’s expensive and elegant.”

“No, you shouldn’t go there,” said Hojoon resolutely.

He continued, “Men should have their own space in the restaurant. If you meet in a narrow place, your son’s girlfriend will be be sensitive and she will regard your son’s mother as an enemy. You need to choose a restaurant with the atmosphere of a primitive place and comradeship.”

The client didn’t understand his explanation.

“What did you say?”

Hojoon said, “What I mean is any elegant restaurant can make your son feel stuffy. The atmosphere of the restaurant will make your son feel daunted and uncomfortable.”

“Which restaurant do you want me to choose?”

“Hmm… Try to find an outdoor restaurant that can offer BBQ service. Don’t you know that having meat makes people feel relaxed? If you go to the suburbs, you will find various BBQ houses.”

“Ah! Thanks. Thanks so much.”

The client hung up the phone.

At that moment, Hojoon received a call.

“Did you get off work?”

It was his mother’s call.

“Yes, I’m done now.”

“Sorry, I couldn’t cook seaweed soup for you. Today is your birthday. Did you meet anybody?” she cautiously asked.

“Do I have to meet anybody if it’s my birthday?”

“Not necessarily…”

He quickly continued in order not to embarrass her, “Don’t worry, mom. I’m not depressed.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes, I’ve met an interesting person recently.”

“Really?”

His mother’s voice became much brighter. She hung up the phone after wishing for him to enjoy the rest of the day.

Hojoon made a U-turn at the next stop.

***

A magazine company held an editorial meeting once a month. The magazine was made after heated editorial discussion, and then delivered to readers two months later. Accordingly, it dealt with the social and cultural trends coming up in two months, weather, and interviews with celebrities.

As the current month was March, the editorial meeting this time dealt with the main concept of the upcoming May issue.

The search word linked to May was ‘bride.’ No matter how much she wanted to avoid it, May came back without exception.

“Hi, guys, we’re going to make a special feature on newlyweds in our May issue. Any good ideas?” the managing editor started the discussion softly.

“Isn’t the feature on newlyweds too banal? We can deal with other topics such as outdoor or family,” said someone.

Arum, who wanted to avoid this type of article by all means, nodded furtively.

“What? The bride of May is like Santa Clause of December!” shouted the editor.

Everybody agreed with the editor’s ruling.

At that moment, Arum received a text message from Hojoon.

<I was sick and tired of waiting for the cleaning company. So, I called them. Shall we have dinner since we skipped last time?>

Arum made a forced smile at his unexpected message.

“What the heck?’

She was looking for a cleaning company. Actually, Hojoon asked her to bring them during the weekend, but then called them on his own. What? Have dinner together?

‘I am afraid I can’t even though I’m hungry.’

Scornfully looking at the text message, she sent a reply.

<I’m in a meeting right now. Working until late today.>

The moment she raised her head after sending him a reply, her eyes met the editor’s.

“Hey, do you have any idea, Arum?”

“What did you say?”

“You’re the idea bank of our magazine. And you’re also the creator of scum love.”

Arum blushed at that. The recorded file of her speech at the campus on that day was circulating on the internet under the file name ‘Scum Love.’ Obviously, the editor had seen it.

“Any idea?”

Arum quickly found some ideas in her notebook and read them out.

“Well, it’s a diet method called wearing a bikini in three weeks.”

“Have you put on a bikini?” the editor asked bluntly.

“Nope.”

“How can you ask others to put on a bikini when you have never worn it? Why don’t you try it first as a reporter?”

In fact, the experience of wearing a bikini was more severe than leaving the company.

“No thanks.”

“Hey, go on a vacation comfortably. Why are you forcing them to keep in shape with a diet? You know they can wear rash guards, right? Don’t they wear life vests?”

“They should,” said Arum in a feeble voice.

“Let’s cut back stressful articles as much as possible. Manager Kyong, I’ve reviewed the material on geomancy well.”

Arum felt attracted to the word ‘geomancy’ immediately.

“I like that. I think it’s a good idea to link the article with the interior of a house. Can you interview any expert in the field?” asked the editor.

“I think we can find college professors or geomancy experts.”

“No, no. They don’t fit our concept. They don’t even regard our magazine as a publication. So, let’s forget about them. Arum, try to find Hojoon Lee.”

Right at that moment, she received another text message from Hojoon.

<Okay, then. I’m also working tonight. Call me when you’re done. I’ve found a video clip about your bizarre behavior that I didn’t show you.>

‘Oh my… This guy is so mean to the end.’

The editor demanded, “Arum Yang?”

“Yes, editor?”

She lost touch with the flow of the editorial meeting because of Hojoon’s text messages.

Manager Kyong pressed her, “Call Hojoon now.”

“He’s working until night today.”

Everybody looked at her when she said that.

“Who the hell are you talking about?”

The editor narrowed his eyes at her response.

But Arum couldn’t confide that she had been communicating with Hojoon.

“Can’t you focus, Arum?” the editor bluffed.

“Sure, let me focus.”