two trays of the same set of food in front of me and then sat across from me.
«I can’t eat it all by myself,» I glared at him indignantly.
«Only half for you,» he chuckled, and began to watch closely as I proceeded to the chicken soup with rice noodles.
"M…delicious!“ I remarked delightedly and in the next moment my plate was in front of Sung Joon, and to my surprise, he began to eat, „this is the first time I see you eating something. You didn’t even touch the food that my father prepared last night. «This morning doesn’t count. You cooked for yourself,» I chuckled and grabbed a second bowl of soup, hoping it wouldn’t be taken away from me, «but why, I feel like I’ve been taken advantage of?»
«So it is,» he answered in an indifferent tone, not looking at me.
«Even so, I’m still glad I could be of use to you. I don’t understand how you have the strength to do everything,» I shook my head indignantly.
«I don’t focus on myself. I don’t need to think about it. Others do it for me,» he replied again, as if he didn’t care about everything that happened not only around him, but with his direct participation.
«Are you saying that you position yourself in this world as a shell?» I asked in surprise, and only after that I realized what I had said. But it was too late to take back his words.
Sung Joon returned his spoon to the table and lost himself in his thoughts for a moment, obviously thinking about my question.
«I have a soul, but it belongs to your father, and is locked in the walls of this building. My heart belongs to the fans, each of whom sees me the way they want to see. There are millions of Song Joons in the world and the only thing that unites them is my face.»
I swallowed nervously and was horrified at the calmness with which he said everything I heard from him.
«Among all these Sung Joons, there is one. The real Sung Joon,» I tried to cheer him up, «I think your desire to leave the agency is due to the fact that you want to find the one – the real you,» I said with a wistful smile and noticed, how Sung Joon looks at me with undisguised fear on his face and pain in his eyes, «I’m sorry, I think I said something wrong,» I said regretfully, noting that his mood changed so often, so I didn’t know what expect from him in the next moment.
«We need to go,» Sung Joon said instead of answering and got to his feet.
I carried the trays onto the conveyor belt, along which they went to the shop where they washed the dishes, and hurried after my ward.
«Did you seriously talk about training?» I asked as we rode the elevator to the floor where his studio was.
«Yes. We’ll train at night, so come up with something to say to your father,» announced Sung Joon.
«In a month, I will move into my apartment. I will live separately from my parents. Therefore, it will be better if we start training after I move.» I reasoned out loud, to which Sung Joon nodded his head in agreement.
Later that evening I ran into my father again in the kitchen. He was drinking wine and browsing the news on his tablet computer.
«You’re early today,» he stated as I walked to my room without even looking at him, «shall we talk?» he suggested and I stopped where I was, then slowly turned my head in his direction.
«About what?» I asked, getting ready to defend myself.
«Sit down, Min Hee,» he motioned me to an empty seat separated from him by a kitchen island. I walked over to the high bar stool, but sat down not on the seat my father offered me, but on the one next to him, which made my father chuckle, «you never do what you’re told.»
«No one said I’d be easy,» I breathed back tiredly.
«I did not hope for it. Otherwise it would not be you. You do not have my blood, but there is a lot of everything that you adopted from me. Persistence. Purposefulness. Judgment,» father stated proudly.
«So you only wanted to talk about that?» I asked impatiently, not sharing his philosophical attitude.
«Decided to give you back your phone,» he replied and took my smartphone out of the inside pocket of his jacket, «Alex has been trying to reach you all day. I said you left the phone with me. He asked me to call him. Are you dating him?» he suddenly asked, while carefully watching my reaction to his question.
«No,» I chuckled and shook my head, «this is the son of my mother’s friend. You know yourself. He lives in America.»
«Distance is not a problem. It dissolves under the influence of feelings. Are you sure that there is nothing between you? Perhaps you want to move to America because of him?» His father asked in a calm but suspicious tone.
«The only person I want to go for is myself. There is no need to look for any catch. I just want to follow my dream. Like you once followed your dream. Like my mother, who still tries find your own «I.»
«A dream,» his father chuckled sadly, «is such an abstract concept that it is not in our minds, but the thought of it makes us move forward, forgetting about what everything was started for from the very beginning. You have a goal. This is commendable. But consider if it’s worth it. And if this is really your dream,» he smiled and reached across the table to pat my hand, «Mom said hello to you. She promised to be back soon.»
«Uh-huh,» I said indifferently and got to my feet, then went to the refrigerator and took out a bottle of cold coffee, which I didn’t really like.
«Today I heard interesting rumors,» his father said with a heavy sigh, «for the first time since Sung Joon has been working at our agency, he appeared in the dining room with his assistant. And the most interesting thing was that he shared his lunch with her.»
«That came as a surprise to me too,» I replied as if I was trying to justify my indecent behavior, «Song Joon refused to eat all the time, and today he decided to go there himself.
«Well, it’s commendable that you’ve become friends, but don’t let it get out of hand. Take control of yourself, your feelings, emotions, and Sung Joon’s mind. You might make a good team after all.»
«Thanks for the advice and guidance. I have to go. Tomorrow morning, we have a shoot for a youth clothing brand,» I breathed tiredly, drained the contents of the bottle and trudged to my room, where after forty minutes of explaining and retelling the events of my life to Alex, I was able to fall into a deep sleep.
CHAPTER 5
«The key to your motorcycle, and the key to your apartment. You will only pay for utilities. Do not break furniture, do not throw parties at night. Be a good girl. Eat on time, and… do not forget about us,» my father instructed me.
«You sound like I’m leaving for the other side of town. I’ll be living just a few floors below,» I laughed, looking at the code numbers for my new apartment, written in my father’s even handwriting on a small piece of paper, «thank you for keeping your promise! "I kissed him on the cheek, took the key to my «horse» from the table and hurried to the parking lot, «I’ll transfer my things to a new apartment in the evening!» I called out before leaving my parents’ apartment.
For the first time in several endless working weeks, I felt the currents of the wind with my skin and how speed is subject to me. My father said that my «iron horse» had passed technical care and now he thanked for it with his smooth roar of the engine and smooth movement on busy city roads.
When I pulled into the agency’s underground parking lot, I occupied a vacant spot, and while taking off my helmet, I noticed Sung Joon rapidly approaching me, just after leaving his minibus.
«What it is?» He asked furiously, kicking the front wheel of my