Chapter 22
Upon arriving at the Incheon International Airport, Mi Na and Dong Sun met up with Young Soo and the rest of their staff members at Gate B. Wanting to sit by Dong Sun during the flight, Mi Na made sure to follow closely behind him in line. Since he did not want Mi Na to sit next to Young Soo on the plane, Dong Sun attempted to interject himself between the two, by suggesting, “Mi Na, why don’t you get in front of me in line; so that you can get a window seat.” Upon hearing Dong Sun’s proposal, Young Soo said, “She can’t sit at a window seat.” Confused, Dong Sun looked at Mi Na and asked, “Why not?” To which, she replied, “I suffer from height vertigo; so I’ll get dizzy if I take the window seat.” Slightly irritated, by the fact that he did not know Mi Na as well as Young Soo did, Dong Sun wondered what other information she was keeping from him.
Seeing that the line was moving in front of them, Mi Na went to grab her luggage and was surprised when Dong Sun picked it up without her asking him to do so. Empty handed, Mi Na smiled, and happily followed Dong Sun onto the plane. After placing their bags into the overhead compartment; Dong Sun made his way to the window seat and watched as Mi Na sat down beside him, with Young Soo following close behind her, to take the aisle seat.
Although, he was unhappy with the current seating arrangements, Dong Sun was glad that it was going to be a relatively short flight. When the flight attendant instructed the passengers to put on their seat belts, Mi Na grabbed the nearest strap and repeatedly attempted to restrain herself. Looking over towards Young Soo, Mi Na said, “I think my seat belt is broken.” With a wide grin on his face, Young Soo held up a different strap and said, “That’s because I have your seat belt.” Without another word, Young Soo reached over and fastened Mi Na’s seat belt before proceeding to put on his own.
Having witnessed the intimate scene, Dong Sun leaned over to Mi Na and warned, “You better watch out for guys like that.” Seeing the confused expression on Mi Na’s face, Dong Sun explained, “Guys are only that attentive when they want something from you.” Recalling that Dong Sun had previously done the same thing, Mi Na narrowed her eyes and asked, “Didn’t you help me with my seat belt on our last flight? Would you care to explain what you wanted from me back then?” Ignoring Mi Na’s inquiries, Dong Sun moved away, folded his arms and proclaimed, “Of course I’m not including myself in that sweeping generalization.”
Before Mi Na could ask Dong Sun to further clarify himself; she heard Young Soo ask, “Are you and Young Jae still together?” Turning to face him, Mi Na replied, “No. I broke up with that jerk two years ago.” Seeing Mi Na’s soured expression, Young Soo asked, “Was he really cheating on you?” Nodding her head, Mi Na replied, “Apparently, he was seeing Hae Won the entire time we were dating.” Overhearing the conversation, Dong Sun finally understood why Mi Na held such a deep hatred for both Young Jae and Hae Won. Observing the unhappy expression on Mi Na’s face, Young Soo said jokingly, “If only you had chosen the better “Young” in high school, I could have already turned you into a happily married woman.”
Infuriated by Young Soo’s bold declaration, Dong Sun glanced over at Mi Na to assess her reaction. Not wanting Dong Sun to get the wrong idea about her relationship with Young Soo, Mi Na grabbed a hold of his arm and asked, “I don’t need a “Young” to turn me into a happily married woman, do I sweetie?” Too surprised to speak, Dong Sun simply nodded his head and smiled at her awkwardly. Staring at the couple, Young Soo folded his arms and observed, “If I wasn’t a happily married man; I’d be really upset, that you chose to tell me about your boyfriend like this.” Turning his attention to Young Soo, Dong Sun asked incredulously, “You’re married?” Young Soo nodded his head and replied, “Yes. I got married last year.”
Seeing the surprised expression on Dong Sun’s face, Young Soo turned to Mi Na and asked, “Why didn’t you tell him?” Shrugging her shoulders, Mi Na countered, “Why would I need to do that?” Shaking his head, Young Soo replied, “You should have told him so that he wouldn’t have to worry about us being in this campaign together. If my wife was taking part in a campaign with some random guy, I think I’d be so jealous, that I wouldn’t even be able sleep.” Letting go of Dong Sun’s arm, Mi Na patted him on the shoulder and proclaimed, “Dong Sun’s not the jealous type.” Observing the carefree expression on Mi Na’s face, Dong Sun shook his head and asked himself, “What did I ever do to deserve this kind of punishment?”
Since they were not scheduled to arrive at the falls until 3 PM, Mi Na and Dong Sun decided to take their staff back to the hotel for lunch. Sitting together at a private table, Mi Na, Dong Sun, Young Soo and the lead photographer, ate lunch while as they discussed various segments that needed to be completed for the campaign. Shortly after taking several bites from his dish, Young Soo started to feel unwell and called the waiter over to ask, “What’s in this lunch special?” Looking at Young Soo’s plate, the waiter replied, “It contains fried buckwheat noodles with grilled chicken.” Scratching his face, Young Soo asked, “What kind of oil do you use to fry the noodles.” Contemplating Young Soo’s question, the waiter finally replied, “I think its peanut oil.”
Startled by the waiter’s response, Mi Na quickly stood up and asked, “Young Soo, are you okay?” Confused, Dong Sun looked at Mi Na and asked, “What’s wrong?” Turning to Dong Sun, Mi Na replied, “He’s allergic to peanuts. The last time he accidentally ate some; his whole body broke out in hives.” The concerned photographer turned to Young Soo and asked, “Do we need to take you to the hospital?” Young Soo shook his head and replied, “I just need to get some antihistamine; the hives should go away in a couple of days.” Seeing the red blotches begin to appear on Young Soo’s face, Dong Sun asked, “How can we do the photo shoot with you looking like that?” Frustrated, Dong Sun continued, “I’m going to have to call the client to tell them that we need to reschedule the shoot.”
Mi Na instructed one of the staff members to help Young Soo to his room and told another person to get him some antihistamine from the nearest pharmacy. Having adequately taken care of Young Soo’s condition, Mi Na rushed to Dong Sun’s hotel room to see if she could help him explain the situation to the client. When she entered his room, Mi Na observed Dong Sun’s face and could tell that the discussion was not going well. Taking the phone from him, Mi Na suggested that they shoot her portion of the campaign first and come back on a later date for a supplementary shoot with Young Soo. The client was not happy with Mi Na’s suggestion, since it would cause the campaign to go over budget and asked her to think of something else.
Running out of ideas, Mi Na looked over at Dong Sun and finally asked the client, “How about we replace Bak Young Soo shii with Lee Dong Sun shii? They’re both good looking and have the same build.” Astonished by what he had just heard, Dong Sun tried desperately to grab the phone away from Mi Na. Pushing him aside, Mi Na smiled and said, “Okay, I’ll talk to Lee Dong Sun shii about it.” After hanging up the phone, Mi Na tossed it to Dong Sun and said, “Congratulations, looks like you’re the new male model for this campaign.” Stumbling back onto the bed, Dong Sun asked, “Why the heck did you do that?!” Folding her arms, Mi Na replied, “If I hadn't done that, Young Soo would be dealing with a breach of contract dispute and you’d have a failed project on your hands.”
Realizing that Mi Na was right, Dong Sun had no choice but to communicate the change of plans to the rest of the staff members. Seeing that Young Soo was too unwell to come along, Dong Sun asked him to stay behind before heading off to the falls with the rest of the team. When they arrived at the photo shoot location, the photographer decided to begin with Mi Na’s solo shots first. Since he was not included in this segment of the photo shoot, Dong Sun stood by the computer screen, which displayed the pictures that the photographer had just taken. As he looked the uploaded pictures, Dong Sun overheard several people say how photogenic Mi Na was, and had to agree with their assessment.
After nearly four hours, Mi Na finally finished her portion of the campaign and made her way back to the main path. Wrapping herself up in a towel, Mi Na waited for the staff to set up the equipment for the next segment of the photo shoot. Grabbing a thick blanket from the rental van, Dong Sun walked over to Mi Na and covered her. Sitting down beside her, Dong Sun asked, “How are you holding up?” Still shivering, Mi Na replied, “I’m okay, but I never knew that modeling was this hard.” Smiling at her, Dong Sun replied, “Yeah, but you’re doing a great job. I think the photographer is going to have a hard time picking out the best shots, since they’re all so nice.”
Before Mi Na could respond, the photographer called her and Dong Sun over for the next set of shots. Pointing towards a spot underneath the waterfall, the photographer said, “You’ll both need to stand there and look towards the lighting equipment over there. We need a clear shot of both of your faces.” Turning to Dong Sun, the photographer continued, “According to the storyboards, you’ll need to embrace her tightly and look lovingly into her eyes. The main focus will be the length of her eyelashes after she’s used the waterproof hyper-extension mascara. Remember that it’s important for you to look at her like she’s the most beautiful woman you’ve ever seen.” Dong Sun nodded his head and thought to himself, “That shouldn’t be so hard, since she is the most attractive woman I’ve ever seen.”
Mi Na and Dong Sun took their place underneath the waterfall and shuttered upon feeling the cold water wash over their bodies. At the direction of the photographer, Dong Sun draped his arms around Mi Na’s small frame and pulled her towards him. He then proceeded to break away from their embrace so that he could gaze into her beautiful brown eyes. Seeing the intensity of his stare, Mi Na held her breath and wondered if Dong Sun could hear the pounding of her heart.
Moving from side to side, the photographer snapped numerous shots while declaring, “You two look great! You’re such naturals at this!” Swept up in the moment, Dong Sun hugged Mi Na a little tighter and reflexively moved his face closer to hers. Before she could register what he was about to do, Dong Sun gently pressed his lips against hers. Lost in the moment, Mi Na tightly closed her eyes and returned the kiss. The pair only broke away from one another when they heard the photographer exclaim, “That’s a wrap! We have everything we need. That improvised kiss was great!”
Staring nervously at Mi Na, Dong Sun said, “I’m sorry about that. I really don’t know where that came from.” Blushing profusely, Mi Na replied, “It’s okay, but next time you change the storyboards like that, give me a heads up.” Not knowing how to respond, Dong Sun changed the subject and said, “Let’s go up before you catch a cold.” Mi Na smiled and replied, “Okay, let’s go.” Mi Na and Dong Sun both replayed the kiss in their minds as they made their way back to the main path and wondered what the other person was thinking about.
