Lucy walked into the room with a smile on her face, ready to fight. She placed the bottle in front of all of them, but the idol, and took one herself.
"I'm sorry, but those were the last. And I need it more. I'm useful." The manager's mouth fell open as he watched Lucy and the idol grinned.
"Let's see if you are really useful," he said, and Lucy sat down. She was up to the challenge. But she had something to say first.
"Can I tell a joke so the atmosphere wouldn't be so tense and it will help me relax a bit…?" she asked the manager. He looked at his watch and then nodded.
"There is this interrogation at the police station and because the robber is a foreigner, they called in an interpreter," Lucy started in Korean, glaring at the idol.
"So the policeman asks, where is the money? The interpreter asked the robber just that. The robber says he doesn't know. The interpreter answers back to the police." Lucy knew where this was going and so did the company representative because he tried to suppress his laughter.
"So the policeman says hey, we know you did it, we just want to know where the money is, say it and we won't arrest you for something worse. The interpreter relays the message, but the robber says no once again. So the police, already pissed, say tell it or we will shoot you. The interpreter translates word after word. The robber gets scared and finally says the money is buried next to his garage. To that, the interpreter looks shocked at the policeman and says that he still won't tell where the money is." Lucy finished. It wasn't a joke… not much. It was just a gentle warning to this guy that decided to piss her off.
To her surprise, they all laughed. Well, those who understood Korean. Lili's father was watching her, confused, and the lawyer went through his papers.
"See how useful I can be?" Lucy said, glaring at the guy and they smiled sweetly at the manager and the others.
"We can continue. I'm sorry for before. I believe someone won't cause any more problems." The manager placed a hand over his mouth and covered his laugh with coughing.
Surprisingly, the rest of those negotiations went really well. They consulted all the details and conditions before signing the contract. And Lucy was free.
When they were ready to leave, Lucy turned around with a shocked face. She interrupted the idol talking to his manager with smugness on his face.
"You are C-LAND's Hwa, right?" she exclaimed, finally remembering when she heard him. Hwa looked at her, totally bewildered.
"And you noticed that just now?" he asked, his mouth hanging low. Lucy nodded, and then shrugged.
"I'm Gomi. And I was too busy with work to think about who you are…" The manager started coughing again, while Hwa just watched her in shock. Lucy knew it was a bit… rude, so she bowed to him.
"I'm sorry for my remarks that might have sounded rude. I won't bother with you again," she said, dealing another damage. Lucy just remembered all her encounters with C-LAND and SEAs and she just couldn't let it go.
Turning around, she wanted to walk away again, but she was stopped by the manager.
"Can I ask you how many languages you know?" he asked and Lucy, who had no problems with him, turned back around and nodded.
"Czech is my first language. I understand most of the languages from the Slavic branch. Then I speak fluent English, Korean and Japanese. If I refresh it I can speak Mandarin, Cantonese and German, and basic French and Spanish." Lucy finished, proud of herself. But her smile was slowly fading when the smugness on Hwa's face reappeared. He looked at his manager and nodded.
"Mmm, could you stay behind, please? We have something to ask for…" Lucy frowned, but then she nodded and told Lili's father he should wait outside. And sat back at the table.
"So it's like this. We plan a world tour and we want our members to speak fluently. So we are searching for teachers. Could you teach them? It's amazing that you know so many languages and it would help a lot for you to take them under your wings. We pay a lot…"
Lucy had to admit that the company representative could speak very well. His suggestion was very pleasing, especially the money part. But then Lucy saw the smirk on Hwa's face and she shook her head.
"Thank you for your offer. But I don't have a license to be a teacher. You have to find someone else," she said, bowed, and walked away.
Lucy tried really hard not to smug herself when she saw Hwa's expression. It couldn't be described as anything other than shock.
She saw Lili's father and the lawyer waiting by the stairs for her, so she slowly walked to them. Smiling, Lucy took out her phone and looked at the time.
"Do you want to go somewhere, or can I go arrange something?" she asked, and Lili's father chuckled.
"Don't forget to buy her some too," he said, knowing where Lucy was heading. She laughed and nodded.
"Yeah, I won't. Thanks," Lucy said and watched them walk away. When they were gone, she opened Naver maps and looked up the nearest store. She put her earphones in and stepped forward, ready to walk down the stairs, when she felt a hand on her shoulder.
The flashbacks of being thrown away at the airport just crossed her mind, and she blew up. Lucy grabbed the hand off her shoulder, turned it around, and kicked the person on his ass, letting the hand go.
Too late, she remembered the stairs down, and too late she noticed it was actually Hwa's manager. Lucy tried to catch him, but she missed his hand by a few centimeters. Wincing, she watched him struggling to keep his balance as he was sliding down the stairs on his ass.
"Fuck," she muttered, took out the headphones from her ears, and hurried to help him. She was just fucked up now... And she knew it.