Good Evening.
On behalf of Miss Ara Rivera, we are requesting the member of the press to refrain from coming to her home, in consideration with the other residents of this building. We acknowledge the fact that you wanted to clarify some things and eager to ask questions, be it personally or professionally. So, we are hoping that you will wait for any further announcement for a press conference within this week. Thank you.
"Do you think they will be pacified with this? I know they will be coming back when the magazine hit the stands tomorrow…" I asked.
"At least we can just let them calm down for now…" Simon contended.
"But we didn't give them any answer whatsoever…" I argued.
"We can give a definite schedule for the press conference. How about Wednesday?" Chris suggested.
"I cannot I have a full schedule that day, we can do it Thursday, from 15-17, would that be enough?"
"An hour is fine…" they all agreed.
"Ok then, you can go and relay that message to the press…thank you." I exclaimed.
This is definitely another disturbance that the Mrs. Ahn would warn me about. The way I see it, they have already found out about the Tatler interview. I left the building without anybody noticing me. But then, the place where I thought is fortified of the outside world, is also filled with reporters waiting for me. I would have not anticipated this ruckus.
The guard cleared out the gate for me to enter, but I guess the campus is not that guarded for reporters to come in. I was being followed all the way to the Department building. Professor Kim was waiting for me at the office, and so are my other colleague. I'm anxious.
"It's not the first time that we are being attack by reporters, so don't worry. There is an SOP for that…" Prof Kim stated.
"Unfortunately, you'll have to be attack by a bunch of fans right now…" my colleagues approach me with a copy of my first 2 books.
"I thought only The Girl is famous here…" I uttered.
"The Conversations is what made me read The Girl, some people read the other way around…" someone else agreed.
"I heard the first 1000 copies of the next book are already distributed?"
"It is…they are mass printing right now; it would take months before it will reach here and maybe a year before it will be written in Korean…" I informed.
The scene in the campus was taken cared-off by the guards. They seem to be well-prepared for such situation and I'm so relieved. I have also students who had been lining up in the guise of consultation but in fact they are just coming for signature. I am now beginning to doubt if compromising my anonymity is such a great idea just to take away the rumors about me and Jae-woo.
I received another call from Mrs. Ahn apparently, there are still reporters by the entrance of the building and some of them also went in by the lobby. I called Soo-ah but she was busy, so I called Han-nah instead. Han-nah went with Simon to pacify things.
"Just let them know I'm not coming home in there until Friday, so they don't need to camp out, outside. They can wait Thursday for the press conference…" I instructed Simon.
I already took some clothes with me this morning when I left the Loft. I am planning to stay a few days at the hotel with Lisa. They are booked at Four Season's until Friday morning. Thinking about having her here with me makes me more secured. I have not heard from Jae-woo since yesterday morning when he went to Busan. I wonder if he even knows what's going on. My phone rings, speaking of the devil.
"How does it feel like to be famous?" he greeted.
"Do I know you?" I teased. He laughed at the other end.
"I'll pick you up later at Campus?"
"I thought you'll come back Wednesday. I'm not going home to the Loft; I'll be meeting Lisa…"
"Oh yes, your secretary is arriving today. We finished today so I took the last flight back." He informed.
"We'll be at Four Seasons. You'll need to meet her, my lawyer will be with us, if you can push through our meeting for later instead of tomorrow then it would be better…" I informed.
"That's perfect, I'll call my lawyer then. See you later…"
"I miss you…"
"I miss you more…"
Han-nah called me after a while to relay the message of Mrs. Ahn. They are calling for a homeowners' meeting tomorrow to discuss about my situation. Apparently, this situation has never happened before. Although, there are other prestigious homeowners who resided there. No one has caught the local media attention as much as I do right now. Blame Nam Jae-woo, I whispered to myself. They will not evict me, will they?
My week is getting more and more crazy every passing moment. Soo-ah managed to book the Se-jong suite at Four Season's there were 2 bedrooms, a master bedroom and one with 2 beds, so Lisa me and Heidi, my lawyer can all stay there until they leave Friday. I thought I already made clear that we will meet at the hotel, but he really has his own way of surprising me. He was waiting by the parking with Joon-o when I finished my lecture.
"I was just famous for a day and someone is already stalking me," I greeted him. He pulled me towards him and planted a long and passionate kiss. It felt like we have not really been together for quite some time, although we just saw each other Saturday.
"Sue me…" he replied. I gave him the key to my car. I knocked at Joon-o's window to greet him.
"I thought your lawyer is coming with you…?"
"He'll be at the hotel by now…" he informed.
"How's your business in Busan?"
"We just scouted a place at a nearby town to set up the farm…"
"Farm?"
"Server farm…" he smiled.
"And…" I am still waiting for him to tell me about his meeting with his family.
"Everything is going as planned…"
"Ok." I gave-up. He will probably not tell me about it.