Chapter 72

Chapter 72: Chapter 72

While Hojoon was footing the bill, fortunately, his mother who was in a traditional Korean dress didn’t come out.

‘Whew! Lucky!’

But she felt uncomfortable for some reason.

‘Isn’t it proper manners for me to formally introduce myself?’

What was the point of her avoiding his mother? Someday, she was destined to see his mother again.

“Looks like your mother is hands full now,” said Arum.

“No, not at all.”

“Why didn’t she…”

Arum was curious as to why she didn’t come out.

“In fact, I sent her a text message saying that she didn’t need to come out because you felt very uncomfortable.”

“Really? I’m not that type of woman.”

With a long face she, who was pretty friendly as a reporter, peeked into the kitchen.

“I enjoyed the food very much, mother. I’ll come back.”

Hearing her voice, Hojoon’s mother came out quickly and said, “Thanks for enjoying the food. You can come anytime. You don’t have to meet my son, but you have to come for a meal, okay?” And she patted Arum on the back gently.

Arum felt as if she had lunch at her close friend’s house.

While they were walking to the parking lot, Arum didn’t say anything. She looked up at the sign of the restaurant quietly.

Indeed, it had the right space and food that perfectly matched the image of <Mother’s Kitchen>.

“How did you feel?” getting in his car, Hojoon asked. In fact, it was a risk for him to have her meet his mother without her approval in advance.

While opening the door of the front passenger seat, she asked jokingly, “Taste of food, or your mother?”

“Both.”

“Well, I think I saw her at your father’s house recently. At that time, I didn’t realize it, but now I see you really take after your father.”

“What? Don’t beat around the bush. What about the food?”

“Well…..”

She couldn’t describe it in one word since she tasted various foods.

“Didn’t it taste good?” he asked, trying to read her mind.

“Oh, I think ….”

Arum intentionally kept him waiting for her reply.

“If you don’t answer, let me call my father to cancel my request.”

“No, no. It tastes something like ‘good-hearted.’ I mean, I feel I have become good-hearted after having lotus rice. I really enjoyed it. Let’s go back to work!”

She raised her voice cheerfully in a good mood.

It was late afternoon when they arrived at Sola House. Arum and Hojoon came in, holding lots of packages in both hands.

“You came?” Jina greeted them.

Looking at them, Heemang and assistant manager Juyoung chuckled.

“What the heck? Why are you guys laughing? Heemang! Come here and pick up the packages, won’t you?”

Heemang rushed to him and carried his package.

“Not mine. Take her package,” he said, pointing at Arum.

“Ohohohoho,” Juyoung teased Hojoon.

Jina also chimed in, “Hey, you guys look like a newlywed couple. Haven’t you heard that?”

“Stop it, Jina!” Arum shouted, signalling to her friend with her eyes.

Heemang took her package and put it on the table. When he opened it, there were lots of stuff including a vase, frames, restroom detergents, slippers and rugs.

They were exactly for the kind of home furnishings for the newlyweds.

“See! These are newlyweds’ stuff.”

Jina nudged her in the ribs.

“Right?”

Arum bit the bullet, answering with a smile, “Yeah, I heard that. At every house we visited, they would ask me the same question such as, ‘Are you newlyweds? Have you set the wedding date?” So, we later told them we are a newlywed couple. Do you really want to hear that, too?”

“Oh, Chief? Weren’t you a celibate?” asked Juyoung.

At that moment, Heemang, who was far from tactful, took side with Hojoon and said, “Hey, Juyoung, don’t you know that yet? Chief was never a celibate, man.”

Though Juyoung signaled to Heemang to act tactfully, the latter didn’t care at all.

As the atmosphere became awkward, Arum stepped in and began to talk more than before.

“There is nothing going on between us, right? Actually, we received lots of freebies by deceiving them into thinking that we’re newlyweds. By the way, I bought some snacks for you. Won’t you try some?”

Arum was unusually talkative today, which made the atmosphere rather serious, not light.

In fact, Jina made such remarks as a joke, but Arum and Hojoon took pains to clarify their position. In the end, Hojoon’s face flushed.

“Hey, guys, let’s have some snacks first.”

Assistant Manager Juyoung changed the atmosphere.

***

On his way back home, Hojoon had to drive back to his company, the Famed House of Feng Shui.

Though Heemang and Juyoung could call it a day and go home, they were going in the same direction as Hojoon.

When Heemang was about to open the rear door of Hojoon’s car, Juyoung slapped him on the back of his hand.

“Why?”

He signaled to Heemang with his eyes that they had better take the bus instead of using his car.

“Hey, man, don’t you know the bus during rush hours is crowded? Ouch!”

This time, Juyoung, stepped on his feet.

“Heemang and I are going to have dinner together. Hey, Hojoon, give reporter Yang a ride to her house,” said Juyoung.

Hojoon already sensed that Juyoung intentionally avoided him and Arum.

“Hey, get in right away!” Hojoon shouted at Juyoung and Heemang.

But Juyoung wouldn’t budge a bit.

“I don’t want to join you, man. Have a good time!”

Grabbing Heemang by the collar, Juyoung took him to the nearby bus stop.

Arum said, “I wish you had went with them. You guys are all heading in the same direction.”

“Do you think they can come with us when you and I gave the impression that we were dating?”

Hojoon gently scolded her.

“Why? Really? Did we give them such an impression?”

“Why do you think Jina left suddenly?”

“She told me she was going back to her company.”

“As they’re observing the founding anniversary of Sola Electronics, ordinary employees take a day off.”

“Huh?”

“See! Jina also headed out first for fear she might make us feel uncomfortable with her around us.”

“Oh, I see. I thought I acted naturally…”

“You did.”

“Dang it! How should I behave starting tomorrow?”

“Why should you worry? Just take me as your man.”

Arum’s jaw dropped at that.

“Where did you pick up such language? Are you taking any extra lesson on that? You cursed at me in the police station. Why are you so different?”

“Do you want me to speak like a policeman?”

“No way!”

“Get in quickly! If we’re a bit late, we’re going to be stuck in a traffic jam.”

Prodded by Hojoon, she got in quickly.

***

Both of them arrived at Hojoon’s company.

All the staff already called it a day. With nobody in the office, both felt a bit empty.

“I think the power of people is really great. How lonely we feel here now with all the staff gone for the day,” said Arum, sitting on the reception sofa and wiping the empty table.

“Chief!”

She habitually called him like that.

Hojoon didn’t fail to point it out, “Oops! We’re well past the closing hours!”

“Hojoon, were you a celibate by nature?”

“Not at all. I didn’t make the case for celibacy. I was just single. Wasn’t it the same case with you?”

“Yes, you’re right. I was a single, too.”

“Have you heard about the rule of a red elephant?”

“Nope.”

“How brazen! How come a reporter like you don’t know this kind of common sense?”

And then he began to explain about the red elephant.

Explaining that this research was done by a professor at the University of California at Berkeley Campus, he asked her to keep one thing in mind.

“From now on, you should never think about the red elephant. Never.”

While she was tilting her head at his strange request, she followed him. She vowed she would never think about the red elephant by all means, but the more she thought that way, the more vividly the red elephant came to her mind.

“Oh my god!”

Arum shut her mouth.

Hojoon kept an eye on her.

“I told you you should never think about it.”

“I really decided not to think about it, but…”

The more she held back from thinking about the red elephant, the more it wandered into her head now.

“Dang it! I see it’s going somewhere.”

Closing her eyes tightly, she fought with the red elephant in her head.

“There is no point in fighting with that idea. Everybody is supposed to think about the red elephant. After I split up with Soran, I went to see a psychiatrist for a while. The doctor told me so. The moment you heard the word ‘red elephant.’ you immediately conjure up its image, right? If you hadn’t heard about it, you would not have had to think about it from the beginning.”

“You bet. I didn’t have to.”