Chapter 265 - Comeback (25): Beautiful Memory

KJ was concentrating hard. The last step was always the tricky one. He took a deep breath and focused on the main part. He slid his right leg backwards while the left one stepped around it, allowing him to twirl his body three times. With the last twirl, he slid the left leg backwards followed by the right foot before jumping forward into a headstand and then quickly rotating his whole body while balancing on his head. His legs made a perfect rotation and leapt on his feet to finish the step.

The choreographer and backup dancers cheered at him. They were at the dance studio, finishing the last rehearsals for the stage performance the next day.

"Bravo!" the choreographer shouted in delight. "It was perfect KJ! You've finally managed to do it!"

KJ felt triumphant. Ever since KJ came out of his coma, he had been struggling with his dancing but he had finally managed to finish the entire choreography on his own. It was difficult at first but thanks to his team, the dance moves were completed without much problem. He had been practicing day and night for the past few days so this little achievement was extremely important to him. 

"Thank you!" KJ said gratefully, bowing down deeply. "I could not have done it without all of you."

And he meant it from the bottom of his heart. His dance team and choreographer worked really hard to help him after his coma.

"I can't thank all of you enough!" he said. "I would like to treat all of you to dinner tonight!"

The dancers cheered in delight. They had been practicing nonstop for the past few weeks and the upcoming comeback performance really had them on the edges. A team outing would definitely boost their morale. They excitedly began to pack up and headed for the changing rooms. KJ, too, went over to his vanity room to get changed.

As soon as he freshened up, he called Mirae. She picked up on the second ring.

"Where are you?" he asked.

"At my office," she replied. "I just briefed the marketing team about the video. They showed me the finished product and it is amazing. It's good to go online tonight. So I'm just going through the details again in case there are any last minute changes."

"How long will it take you?" he asked. "I'm going to have dinner with the dance team. Wanna join us?"

"Sure!" she exclaimed. She never had a dinner outing with her employees before so it sounded exciting. "Can I also invite Somi and her team? They've worked hard too and they need a break."

"Alright," he agreed. "I'll wait for you."

"No need," Mirae said. "I'll be a little late. You go ahead with the dance team. I'll come with Somi and her staff."

"Okay," he smiled and hung up. He combed his hair. It was dyed blue for the performance stage. Even though he was not particularly fond of the color, Mirae loved it. Apparently, it made him look s.e.xy.

Once he changed into a casual black t-shirt and denim jeans, he headed downstairs to meet his team. They were a big group, so their team had to take two company vans. He climbed into one of them and they set off towards a traditional steakhouse. It was only a few blocks away from their building and since it was in the middle of the business hub, the place was quite expensive. Moreover, it provided ample amount of privacy for celebrities so it was easy for KJ to dine there.

He went up to the reception with his team. "Hello sir," the receptionist greeted. "Do you have a reservation?"

"Yes," he replied. "Under the name of Kwon Jiwon. We are ten people here and five more will join in a bit. Please escort them to our room when they arrive."

"Sure sir," the receptionist said. "Your reservation is at the VIP room number one zero one. Enjoy your meal sir!"

She slightly bowed at them. KJ led his group to the VIP room. 

It was a cozy restaurant with traditional Korean paintings hung on the walls. The portraits range from the Silla dynasty to the Joseon era. The walls were painted in a soothing yellow color while red beaded curtains hung from the entrances of each room. Their room also had a small, Japanese style fountain with mini bamboo barriers. 

"The place looks good," the choreographer named Kim complimented.

"Let's all take our seats," one of the dancers named Jaein piped up. There was a long table situated at the center. It was big enough to accommodate everyone. KJ sat at the far end while everyone else sat on both sides of him.

"Let's order first," he suggested. "The others are coming."

"Is the CEO coming?" Jaein asked. "We've never had the chance to meet with her properly!"

"You can meet her now," KJ grinned. The dancers were very excited to meet her. Even though they had seen her around the office a lot of times, she was always very busy with numerous workloads. Moreover, the artists managed their own dance teams so she had little work with them anyway. So they were looking forward to meeting her outside the office.

A server came over to their table.

"We would like to order five plates of the large sized Bulgogi," KJ stated. "Five large sized bowls of Chicken Noodle Soup, five plates of Fried Calamari, five large plates of Beef steaks, Kimchi stew and five hotpots of mixed meat. The steaks should be rare. We'll grill it here. And also soju for everyone."

"Yes sir," the server said, bowing at him before leaving the room to carry out their orders. 

The group was chattering loudly about the video which was going to be released in two hours. It was KJ's first comeback ever since EXOTIC disbanded and everyone was hyped for it. The teaser image went viral within minutes and the fans were eagerly anticipating the music video. 

KJ was chatting with Kim when one of the dancers cried out, "CEO!"

Immediately, everyone stood up to greet Mirae as she walked in with Somi and four more of her staff including Shelley.

"Good evening everybody!" Mirae greeted them with a smile, bowing deeply. Somi and her staff also bowed before they took their seats. One of the dancers moved to another seat, offering Mirae his seat which was next to KJ. Mirae thanked him and sat down.

Choreographer Kim stood up to speak.

"I would like to raise a toast tonight on behalf of the dance team," he declared. He turned towards KJ and Mirae. "KJ, we've been working with you for many years. Throughout our time together, you've always been kind to us. We've been through a lot of ups and downs but you always had faith in us. And now that you have started a new life with an amazing woman, we would like to show you our gratitude."

KJ and Mirae looked at each other, feeling puzzled. One of the dancers scrambled to his feet and vanished outside. Within a few minutes, the dancer came back, holding a large, but very thin package. She approached Mirae, blushing hard.

"Ma'am, please accept this token of appreciation from us," she blurted out. The poor dancer was so mesmerized by Mirae's appearance that she could barely look at her directly.

Mirae smiled at her kindly and said, "Thank you so much!" 

Everyone looked at her, feeling nervous as she opened the delicate packaging. KJ leaned over to his wife's side, curious about it. Mirae turned the frame around to see a large sized photo of them together at the little restaurant they had visited after leaving the meadow. Their still forms in the picture were gazing at each other lovingly, oblivious to the world around them.

"We took the picture from the internet," the dancer said, hoping that Mirae was not offended by it. "We thought of giving the two of you something special. All of us chipped in to buy the frame. It's made of pure white gold…"

But KJ and Mirae were staring at the picture, awestruck. KJ looked up to see his wife was a little teary eyed. Mirae did not say anything but stood up and hugged that dancer.

"Thank you," she whispered, feeling grateful. "It's beautiful."

The dancer blushed harder and felt overjoyed. The rest of the team also let out a sigh of relief. They were afraid that the CEO would not like the gift but she loved it.

"I'll hang it on our bedroom's wall," Mirae said gleefully. Truthfully, they did not have a single wedding photo so this was the perfect substitute. She looked around, beaming. "Thank you everyone!" she yelled, her happiness oozing out of her eyes. 

KJ smiled at the gleeful face of his wife. She kept the frame carefully between them, making sure it would not get scratched. It was a precious gift.

Just then, the servers arrived with large plates of food. The delicious aroma was making them ravenous. Somi stood up and danced towards a corner.

"Everyone, look here!" she called, taking out her camera to take a selfie. "Let's show our team spirit with a selfie! Say cheese!"

"Cheese!" Everyone smiled as Somi clicked the picture, capturing a beautiful memory which would last forever.