“Is it okay to talk with you now? I’m on my way now. Aren’t you tired?”
“Well, I dozed off while having a meeting,” said Konsu.
“Let’s only eat today.”
“It looks like you want to have drinks, too.”
“Seriously, Konsu!”
“Got it, honey.”
“See you there Don’t be late.”
“Yup! Don’t be late, too.”
“Okay. I’ve got to go now. See you there.”
“Okay, see you.”
After she hung up the phone, Arum held the phone for a long time.
Lovers become happy because of this kind of silly conversation. Even if they met without any purpose, they just felt happy.
Only those who experienced separation could appreciate this kind of happiness.
The client’s house was located near Panghwa Station.
It was a residential area surrounded by apartment complexes.
The client, Yuyoung Choi, was an airline stewardess, so it seemed easy for her to commute to Kimpo Airport or Inchon International Airport. As there was a subway to the airport, the transportation in her area was not inconvenient.
“Complex 8, Building No. 105. Oh, that building!”
Fortunately, Arum easily found Yuyoung’s apartment unit.
Ding dong-
“Who is it?”
She heard a woman’s voice through the intercom.
“This is reporter Arum Yang with Single Woman.”
“Wait a minute!”
She arrived at the clients’ apartment unit by passing through several layers of security devices installed at the apartment building.
Yuyoung was waiting for her at the front door. She was a tall and slender lady with a beautiful smile, the typical figure of a flight attendant at a glance.
“Wasn’t it difficult to find my house here?” she asked.
Yuyoung greeted her comfortably, talking as if Arum was someone whom she had known for a long time.
“Oh, I easily found it.”
When Arum stepped into her living room, she saw a guy who was familiar to her.
“Oh, Hojoon! Didn’t you tell me you would come only on the day of the shooting?”
“Well, the staffer in charge went on vacation.”
Today, he meant it. Heemang, the staffer in charge, flew to Thailand with his family to celebrate his parents’ 60th anniversary.
“Please introduce yourselves to each other. This is Yuyoung Choi, the owner of this house.”
“My name is Yuyoung Choi. I love your articles very much.”
She was full of charm when she spoke. There was nothing pretentious in the way she spoke.
She continued, “I’m your fan. Your regular column, ‘Trash Can Love,’ is the best essay series.”
Arum pointed at Hojoon, but Yuyoung didn’t realize what she meant.
Instead, Hojoon glared in his eyes and stared at Arum.
But she openly ignored him, thinking to herself, ‘Do you think you can scare me? No way.’
“Congratulations on your wedding!”
“Thanks. I really thank brother Hojoon and you for this great opportunity on the occasion of my wedding.”
“Well, we would like to thank you for your decision to participate in our geomancy interior project and to gladly accept the shooting of your house,” said Arum sincerely.
In fact, there were few readers who were willing to reveal their houses and faces to the public.
“Well, brother Hojoon asked me a favor, so I accepted it.”
“It looks like both of you were very close in the past,” said Arum, looking at them alternately.
“Not really. I had a secret crush on him. I really liked him, but I’m getting married to a different guy.”
But there was no more wistfulness in her eyes. Was there anyone who had no secret crush on the opposite sex during their childhood?
“I guess if your groom heard you, he might be hurt,” said Arum.
“Well, I can’t help it because Hojoon was my first love. My fiance also knows that, and he is really jealous because of that. He even tells me never to take Hojoon here,” Yuyoung said, as if she were teasing Hojoon.
“What the heck are you talking about?” asked Hojoon.
“No, no, hear me out, brother Hojoon. He has told me that if I bring you to my house, he’s going to treat you as his elder brother! I mean it.”
Arum felt that Yuyoung was full of charm.
She felt ashamed of herself because her charm was such a contract with her brusqueness.
‘How come there are only charming women around this guy?’
Soran Cho, the daughter of the CEO of Korea’s best electronics company, was his ex-girlfriend, and Yuyoung, who was a stunning beauty, once had a secret crush on him.
‘I wonder if he likes me. He’s so nice to me. But he is not my type.’
Thinking about how narcissistic she was, Arum suddenly felt ashamed of herself.
‘That’s fine with me. I’m now dating Konsu again.’
When she thought that Konsu, her one and only love, would wait for her in the evening, she suddenly felt energized.
Three of them held the meeting in the living room. Hojoon examined every corner of the room, taking pictures here and there.
As the house was recently re-papered and lined with new linoleum, there was only a TV set and a refrigerator in the living room.
Yuyoung said they were used, but as she bought them only two years ago, she brought them here.
From then on, Hojoon should transform this house into a newlyweds’ home overflowing with luck of love. And Arum should describe his designing process in her article. In particular, she should display the latest home appliances offered by Sola Electronics in a way that would draw the readers’ interest.
That was why today’s meeting was important.
Arum asked her many questions, looking around her house here and there. She had to dig into some nice episodes about the newlyweds that could draw the readers’ interest.
“Can I ask how you met your current groom?” Arum asked.
“Sure. We met at a wine bar like in the movies.”
Hojoon, who was taking pictures at a distance, approached her as if he was also interested in her story.
“We had a get-together at the company and went to a wine bar for drinks. But two people went home with the other party’s cell phone by mistake. Both of them didn’t know how it happened.”
“Wow, it’s like a movie,” said Arum.
She liked her story. It was like they were each other’s destiny.
“So, what happened?”
“That night we met again. Since then we met everyday.”
“When did you receive his proposal after you met him?”
“Well, the very next day.”
“I can’t believe it!” Arum was just speechless.
“Are you sure?” she asked again.
Was it possible that a man and a woman could get married so easily like this?
“Yeah, that’s our destiny. We keep telling each other that we are lucky for one another.”
“I envy you!”
“There was nothing like push and pull between us. We could not have thought about marriage if we had played mind games with each other. We think we are pretty honest to each other, even more so than with our family.”
“How can you form such a solid trust?”
Arum was genuinely interested in her answer.
“Well, won’t you notice that naturally?” As if she couldn’t easily answer her question, she tilted her head.
Arum felt as if she became a failed student before a woman who thought love was the easiest thing in the world.
Changing the topic, Yuyoung asked Hojoon, “Brother, is the interior of the newlyweds’ house different?”
“Of course. It has a very important function.”
Both Arum and Yuyoung waited for his answer.
Arum tried to think hard to answer Yuyoung’s question, but couldn’t find one.
After annoying them for a minute, he answered, “Child-producing function.”
Without changing his expression at all, Hojoon brought up an embarrassing topic.
Yuyoung blushed at his answer.
Hojoon said, “The greatest purpose of marriage is to produce children. And the purpose of feng shui for newlyweds is to increase their productivity. Okay? Let me help you get pregnant quickly.”
“Oh my god, brother!”
Now Yuyoung blushed even more.
“I’m not joking.”
“Oh no, brother.”
Arum was just as embarrassed.
‘You could have expressed it figuratively with words such as romantic, comfortable and relaxing, et cetera. You’ve gone too far.’
Hojoon emphatically stressed to Arum, “Bedroom geomancy is the key. Why aren’t you writing it down?” demanded Hojoon.
“Well, that is something I can’t…”
“Why? Is this tip too good quality for you to handle?”
“Let me rephrase it as ‘romantic’ in my article, though you mentioned bedroom geomancy.”
As Arum used her talents to change the topic, the awkward atmosphere became more relaxed.
“Oh, you have a very good sense, Arum. I received lots of hints while dating brother Hojoon in the past. Your articles were very helpful, too.”
“Hey, Yuyoung. I don’t think her column was helpful. It looks like you’re trying hard to curry favor with her,” said Hojoon, looking at Arum on purpose.
But Yuyoung was serious. She clearly remembered even the title of Arum’s articles in her regular column on love.