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“So… You have to take care of a gate in Laos this morning.” Jin-Ah explains, pointing to the board on which she has written his day's schedule. “You have to finish it in about two hours, and come back quickly enough to have time to shower and get ready for your date.”
Her brother nods a little, finishing tying the laces of his sneakers. He doesn't complain about Jin-Ah's decision to organize his schedule, but he never complains about anything she does. He is always happy to just let her do what she wants and adapt to her decisions, even when she decides to just totally change his schedule for the day, to organize it the way she wants.
"I have a date?” Jin-Woo replies, possibly because no one told him before.
Her idiot brother probably still has a hard time realizing that people can be attracted to him. Honestly, Jin-Ah also has a little trouble realizing it too. He's not ugly, but he's Jin-Woo (with all that that includes, even his tendencies to not speak and stare into space for several minutes, or disappear for days). But in short, her brother is nice, and cannot understand that people can want him. In the same way that he finds it difficult to understand that his soulmates could want anything with him.
“With Liu Zhigang.” Jin-Ah responds. “He wants to take you out to eat at a restaurant in Seoul. And I looked at the webpage of the restaurant in question, they don't have a reservation available for six months and everyone is saying good things about it!”
Jin-Woo looks up at her a bit, a small, amused smile on his face. And he can't tell her that's not a good argument! Jin-Woo lost a lot of what made the Jin-Woo she knew when they were still kids, but he still loves food so much, and he still loves eating so much; Liu Zhigang will score points with his reservation for the restaurant.
“Hmm.” Jin-Woo hums softly, as if to agree.
Jin-Ah refrains from exclaiming with joy. She knew her brother wouldn't refuse, because she knows him better than she knows herself, but it's good to hear his confirmation regardless. After all, she spent quite a bit of time creating his schedule for the day, and making the whiteboard look pretty with several little stickers and different colored inks. It's nice to know that her work is appreciated.
“He also wants a little training session against you. I wasn't sure if he was asking to fight you or to sleep with you, so I agreed. Anyway – ‘training’ session” and she makes the quotation marks with her fingers, “after the meal; until about 4 p.m.”
Jin-Woo chuckles a little as he stands up. He tangles her hair, shaking his head a little, as if a bit exasperated by her behavior. Jin-Ah knows that is not the case. At best he's amused and at worst he'll never tell her what he really thinks so as not to hurt her so Jin-Ah kinda doesn't care.
“It’s most definitely for real training. Zhigang doesn't like to schedule sex sessions. It's more of a ‘depends of the mood’ kind of thing, you know?.”
Jin-Ah grimaces a little, because she doesn't really want to imagine her brother's sex life. She prefers to imagine him as the most innocent person in the world, that she can still tease him about his lack of knowledge in this area – apparently, she won't be able to do that much longer. And oh, she wished she hadn't known. Liu Zhigang? Seriously ? He doesn't fit Jin-Ah's tastes at all, but hey, the most important thing is for Jin-Woo to be happy.
(She still has a little trouble imagining that the man could be one of Jin-Woo's soulmates too, since they don't really feel alike, but Jin-Woo tells her that there is a meaning behind the connection between them and each other, even if she doesn't understand. As long as it's okay with Jin-Woo, she has no problem with it).
"I don't care at all honestly. Anyway, at 4:30 p.m., you have to be at Mr. Woo's office to talk about the reconstruction of the southern districts of Busan.” She just says, to change the subject and Jin-Woo nods. "And tonight you're coming to the restaurant with me and Jin-Ho – I'm pretty sure he wants to ask your permission to marry me – and for my permission too by the way, even though we all know that already. Well, you know how he is. I find it cute honestly.”
She already knows that Jin-Woo won't refuse Jin-Ho's request to offer him her hand; firstly, because he thinks he has absolutely nothing to say on the subject and that Jin-Ah is entirely capable of deciding on her own whom she wants to marry: secondly, because he knows that Jin-Ah is totally in love with Jin-Ho and imagines without too much difficulty spending the rest of her life with him; and of course, because he already considers Jin-Ho his little brother, and finally bringing him officially into the family is a pleasure for him too.
"How much did Zhigang pay you to fit this date into my schedule?" Jin-Woo asks, as he leans down a bit to hug her before leaving.
And oh, her brother knows her too well. Of course he would find out. Oh, it's not that important in the end, it seems to make him laugh and he still agrees to follow the schedule so everything is for the best. And indeed, Liu Zhigang understood very well that the most certain way to secure Jin-Woo's time was to go through Jin-Ah (Woo Jin-Chul does the same thing, for very different reasons - in order to make sure Jin-Woo gives a few press conferences on a regular basis).
“Enough to give me the greatest wedding ever.” She replies, with a small smile and Jin-Woo laughs in her hair. “And with the sum given by Thomas André for your date tomorrow, I will have enough for a great honeymoon too.”
Thomas Andre took it very badly that Liu Zhigang came up with the idea of giving her a bribe first, and decided to give twice the money to take Jin-Woo to a place of his choosing. He decided to book her brother’s entire afternoon, and Jin-Ah isn't quite sure what he's planning to do, but she got enough money to spend a month in the Caribbean with her future husband, in a luxury yacht, with nothing to do but lay under the sun and enjoy.
Anyway, she's not going to complain that Jin-Woo's soulmates do not care about their money.
“I am just a goose that lays golden eggs for you.” Jin-Woo replies, with a small smile on his face to show that he's making a joke.
“Oh stop it, you know I adore you!” She retorts and Jin-Woo kisses her hair before disappearing into the shadows.
…
Jin-Ah's day doesn't go exactly as she had imagined. She does not intend to complain of course, because she had planned to spend the day like a larva on the couch. She got a call, thirty minutes after Jin-Woo left, from the assistant of one of the world's top hunters, asking if she'd be interested in a coffee. Of course, she accepted.
And the café is very different from all those that Jin-Ah is used to frequenting, but the food offered is delicious, and she does not hesitate to test absolutely all the pastries offered.
"How much did he promise you Miss Sung?" asks the man in front of her.
Jin-Ah pulls out the check Thomas André gave her from his back pocket. Without a word, she unfolds it and slides it along the table, until Christopher Reed can grab it. He does it with one finger, lifts it from the table to look at it and smiles a little bit, as if the amount written on the check amuses him (Jin-Ah doesn't really know what's funny, she has never seen so many numbers on a check).
“So that’s the price André thinks Jin-Woo’s time is worth,” laughs Christopher Reed wickedly. "It's pitiful. I'll give you double that if you replace André's name with mine on tomorrow's schedule.”
And who is Jin-Ah to turn down such a tempting proposition.
…
'You were right - it wasn't a real training session.'
Jin-Woo writes to her, when it’s around 4:10 p.m. and Jin-Ah refrains from grimacing, while in the middle of a manicure session (offered by Christopher Reed in person). Well, the only good thing she has with this information is that Jin-Woo has the sympathy to stick to the schedule she has made. She asks someone to write a reply message, because her hands are full.
‘Is this a complaint?’
Because Liu Zhigang isn't quite her kind of man, but she knows he's to Jin-Woo's tastes, so he shouldn't even try to complain. Or maybe he has a right to complain, because Jin-Ah sent him off to a sex session after all, without really asking his opinion. For the space of a few seconds, Jin-Ah mentally wonders, in a tiny corner of her mind, if she has become a pimp.
‘Not at all lol.’
Well –at least, she is reassured.
…
“You are absolutely gorgeous.” Jin-Ho tells her when she arrives in front of his house, to take him to the restaurant.
Honestly, she has the best boyfriend in the world. Jin-Ho is not her soulmate but he is so kind, so patient with her that Jin-Ah couldn't help but fall in love. He can get a little goofy at times, but that just adds to his adorableness, and he has the cutest laugh ever, especially when he's embarrassed. And he has the sweetest voice in the world, like a perfectly prepared hot chocolate on a long winter night.
Anyway, Jin-Ho is adorable, and Jin-Ah can't wait to have his last name.
" You're not bad either.” She replies, with a small smirk, before motioning for him to get in the car.
Jin-Ho blushes a bit (and how adorable it is) before getting into the car next to her. He looks at the driver, raising an eyebrow, as if asking for an explanation. Jin-Ah rarely takes chauffeured cars, except when she is giving a lecture at a university about her research, and where sometimes they send a car to drive her. It's normal for Jin-Ho to be curious.
“A gift from Mr. André – the car is mine for the rest of the month.”
Jin-Ho laughs a little. He sits more comfortably and shakes hands with the driver, introducing himself quickly (and it's for the little things like that that she loves him, for the way he always tries to talk to everyone, the way he stands in the car seats, not thinking of strapping himself in, as if he can't manage to stay in place – he's adorable, and he's hers).
“Are they doing it again?” Jin-Ho finally asks her, turning back to her.
"Oh?” She asks, because she feels the story behind it, and she wants to learn more. Jin-Ho smiles, takes one of her hands in his to kiss her palm, before speaking a little bit.
“Oh, they are often like that, trying to fight for Jin-Woo’s affection.” Jin-Ho replies, smiling. "It's still pretty ridiculous, and if I didn't know Big Bro so much, I would think he wasn't interested."
But Jin-Woo is interested. Jin-Ah knows it. Everybody knows it. If he wasn't interested, the whole world would have noticed. When he doesn't like a situation, he walks away from it, leaves without the slightest hesitation and if someone tries to force him to stay, he proves why he is the most powerful man on earth. If his soulmates didn't suit him, he wouldn't spend time with them.
“Sometimes I think these three idiots have a hard time realizing that they are soulmates too – not just Jin-Woo’s.”
Jin-Woo told him that when he met Christopher Reed and Thomas André, he immediately knew that they were his soulmates, and they realized that too. She's not quite sure how it works, but that's how things work – when soulmates meet, they realize it, like some kind of electric shock that informs them of the bond. His meeting with Liu Zhigang confirmed the bond they share together – the bond that makes Jin-Ah laugh so much.
(Jin-Woo also told her that he has another, albeit far more platonic, soulmate; Go Gun-Hee, and that, too, only made sense after he got all the information – even though Jin-Ah still doesn't know what he's talking about).
"From what I've seen, Liu and André spend more time trying to rip each other’s head off than anything else.” Jin-Ho assures, and Jin-Ah wants to believe him – she saw the destruction caused by the fights between these two. “And Reed has a preference for passive-aggressive, but I assure you he is a real asshole too.”
Jin-Ah laughs, but that fits her idea of Reed too. The man does things much more calmly, being more composed in his thoughts – he doesn't always go through fights even though he knows how to fight (and Jin-Ah has seen him go at it, he is as powerful as the other two, even if he is worthless against her brother – but hey, to be honest, nobody is worth much against her brother).
“I guess monsters like that were meant to be together.” Finally adds Jin-Ho. “Not that I think Jin-Woo is a monster – just that he is super powerful! Like, ultra mega-powerful, the kind of non-human powerful! I would have never said he was a monster.”
"Jin Ho.” She interrupts him, and he makes a small face. "I know.”
Her boyfriend scratches the back of his neck a little - slightly embarrassed, but he still gives her a nice smile. Jin-Ho is Jin-Woo's biggest fan, always ready to defend him when someone tries to criticize him. Of course, Jin-Ah knows he wouldn't insult him – he would never allow himself to, he's way too nice for that, too loyal too (and yes, okay, Jin-Ah is totally in love with him, but she can't help it, he's perfect).
“Anyway, it’s nice of you to invite us to the restaurant like that.” She ends up saying, to change the subject.
Jin-Ho blushes even more until even the back of his ears take on a red color. He smiles softly, before taking a deep breath, as if trying to find his courage (he doesn't need to look for it, he's already got plenty, Jin-Ah knows - he just needs to learn it too).
"As if you didn't already know what I am planning to ask tonight." Jin-Ho replies, looking at her with a small smirk– as if he didn't have a small box containing a wedding ring in his pocket (the left inner one, Jin-Ah knows).
"As if you didn't already know my answer." She replies, and she knows that the loving gleam in Jin-Ho's eyes is mirrored in hers.