After deliberation, we just thought it be best to wait out how the parties involve will answer to the news. When my stomach made a growling sound, I have to dial for room service and totally forgot that I haven't cancelled the dinner with Jae-woo.
I hurried to the door when the bell rang, thinking it is room service, but it's Jae- woo with a guy who looked like his bodyguard.
"I guess local news cannot reach your TV in here?" he said with a smirked but stopped when he saw Soo-ah sitting by the sofa.
"Hi, good evening. Come in." I know it's no use since he just barged in without any greetings or permission.
"She's Soo-ah, you've seen her at the airport last time. She's my local news, I didn't need the TV for that."
"This is Joon-o, my secretary," he introduced us to his secretary, although I suspect he is more than that.
"We'll probably be having our date here," a hint of humor on his remark but his face is serious.
"What date? I though we're dining-out?" I rode along his humor train.
"You can call it that, but now is dining-in. I'm sorry…" he is interrupted by another ring from the door. He and Joon-o looked at each other with worried eyes.
"Soo-ah, that's our dinner." I announced. Soo-ah hurriedly check the door and room service arrived.
"We need to have our dinner, and we didn't order enough for four. I really cannot talk right now because this will be my only real food since this morning, so either you can scoot off or watch us eat" I was really hungry, I haven't even realize I just had an egg this morning. I opened the cloche from the food tray. We ordered 2 serving of today's special. There are slices of garlic bread, lobster bisque, a steak for Soo-ah, and my seafood pasta.
"You can eat with us, we'll share". I really wanted to make the mood lighter, so I decided to joke a bit. Soo-ah arrange the food on the table and take out 4 wine glasses.
"How did you come in? I heard there's a lot of reporters by the entrance" I wondered.
"Through the back. I called the general manager, we knew each other."
"And you knew my room number from him? Remind me to file a complaint for violation of privacy."
We finished our meal rather quickly probably because we all cannot wait to resolve the situation. We gathered by the living area of my suite. He and his henchman might have formulated already some plan to salvage the situation but since they are here, I'm thinking they are here to hear me out.
"I have been thinking, so hear me out and if you think it's plausible then respect it." I started. I might be of a disadvantage in this situation since, I am a stranger to this scene but if there's something I've perfected from being an outsider, is being observant.
"You, coming here right now, is very risky, since there is a chance that we can be pictured together, again. There's nothing on the news about any specific details of who are on those pictures. Should you not be talking with your wife and best friend about this?"
"I'm sorry." I know I've gone so far when I saw him clenching his fist and his expression became somewhat more serious. They could have not wait for at least one more week before announcing their relationship, so they might have been waiting for long for his signature and now they wanted to broadcast to the whole nation about their relationship.
"My apologies, my point is, I don't believe that I'm really affected in this situation, so giving any statement on my behalf or any statement at all will just fuel the fire. I'm not going to stay here for long, I can even just leave tomorrow, and it won't affect anything on my part. As for you, you can just talk with the other party and give them some ultimatum so you can clear your name. I don't think that your company will be affected at all. Even though your image will be a little off, your company's product is far too valuable to be boycotted. Unlike the other party, they have more to lose if the truth comes out, so they may even ask you to just sit back so they will take advantage of this opportunity, but then it's between you and them. I'm sorry if I have been too careless with that peck on the cheek to cause all this misunderstanding. I can leave tomorrow so we don't need to see each other again," I rest my piece. Although, there's this bitterness of thinking I can't see him again. I know that's the easiest choice. I can't be caught up with his life, I have been dealing too much drama in my past that I don't want to deal with anymore for now. I blabbed too long, and he seemed uninterested with everything I just said.
"I didn't come here to do some damage control…" he stated, then he looked at Joon-o and Soo-ah. "Can we have a moment alone?" He uttered, asking for permission from them. I felt rattled.
"There's no need for that", I protested. But it seemed like Soo-ah think otherwise.
"Miss Ara, I'll take the documents and I'll see you tomorrow. If you'll have to change your flight just let me know, I'll be on standby" she's been here for hours now, so I just let her take her leave. She took the papers for the sponsorship I proposed to her to finish her bachelor's degree and come to study his master's in Copenhagen.
"Joon, you can bring Miss Soo-ah home, I will call you when we're done here ", he ordered. It makes me all tense. So, it will be me and him alone in this room. Just as the door closed behind Joon and Soo-ah, he poured more wine on our glasses.
"You're always speaking your mind without thinking how the other will feel?" I can feel the hurt in his voice.
"I just gave an honest opinion. If it's not reasonable as I said, you can give me your argument as to why it's not." I'm trying to hold my ground, otherwise I would crack under pressure and try to give in.
"I didn't come here to have an argument or to make a big deal out of this situation. I came here to apologize. I could have been more cautious. I'm sorry if I'm dragging you into this", he looks kind of disappointed. Then he stares at me with curious eyes.
"You're right, we'll probably won't see each other again. You'll be thinking you'll go back to your world and I will stay here in mine, but that's not the case for me. You see, I didn't think that this is just coincidence, me and you, I believe in serendipity. And we may never know if it will be leading to a happy ending of a one great love story, if we never even try to start it…" I never thought he have it in him to be this sensitive.
"Seriously? We barely knew each other, we bumped into each other twice, 3 times. How could there be anything other than some physical attraction? We are both adults who have undergone marital issues and we find that our common ground to feel sympathetic towards each other, that's normal. It's highly likely to be attracted to other people, thinking that we have commonality" I don't want to waver. I want to be the voice of logic, but the words coming out of my mouth seemed childish.