Le Petit Ami

Le Petit Ami

I.

By all counts, she should be happy. Her mother was ecstatic, almost unforgivably so. Guiltily, Ga Eul shoved that ugly thought back into the murky depths of her subconscious. Her father had been laid to rest for almost ten years and during those ten years, her mother had been completely faithful to a memory that she could only cherish, not hug or kiss or hold. She had raised Ga Eul to the best of her ability while juggling her full time job as an advertising executive. She had, as Ga Eul told herself, paid her dues and now she deserved to enjoy the good fortune that came her way.

‘At least she still visits Appa’s grave and has no intention of stopping,’ Ga Eul comforted herself as she browsed the jewellery section of Tiffany’s. Thanks to Choi Ji Yong, her stepfather to be and billionaire media mogul, she had the money to buy her mother a beautiful wedding gift. At least he was kind and considerate, if a bit distant. But that probably had to do with the fact that she was already nineteen and had deliberately avoided him when her mother had started to date him. His daughter on the other hand…

Just imagining Choi Jin Hee who insisted on being called Ginger sent a shudder coursing through Ga Eul’s body. She was the type of girl that Ga Eul had always avoided: popular, rich and completely nasty. The news of the wedding had hit her badly and unable to vent her anger on either her father or Ga Eul’s mother, she had taken it out on Ga Eul. In a bid to get the two girls to know each other, their parents had insisted on bringing them out to dinner or the theatre several times. Each time, Ginger had managed to whisper nasty things about her in Ga Eul’s ear. From her hair, to her looks, to her dressing, nothing was good enough. It didn’t help that Ga Eul had no idea what to do whenever they inevitably mingled with the rich and famous they always ran into. Usually it ended up with her standing quietly aside with her the other three talking. When they left the girls alone to go on shopping trips, Ginger had arranged for her friends to meet her there and they would tag along, breathing comments about poor people who married into families too good for them. As much as she wanted to beat the stuffing out of them, she dared not leave because she knew Ginger would squeal and say she refused to get to know her. It had happened once already and although her mother had been understanding, she could not quite believe that “sweet Ginger” could be so nasty.

Finally she saw something her mother would love. It was a long necklace, made entirely of a single row of round diamonds linked together with platinum. It was completely gorgeous and obscenely expensive. Ga Eul looked around for a salesperson but all the ones she could see had gravitated to the sides of other far more well dressed people. Obviously even they felt she didn’t belong here, which was true. Just then, her phone rang. Without thinking, she pressed the receive button. “Hello?”

“It’s me.”

Ga Eul stifled her sigh. That kind of rude greeting only came from one person. “Yes Ginger?”

“Father says to tell you he’ll be sending a driver to pick you up on the morning of the departure. The driver will also escort you to our private jet. I guess he’s afraid that a country bumpkin like you will get lost in the airport.”

“Okay, that’s fine,” she managed in a clipped tone. It was not worth arguing with Ginger over the phone in public. “If that’s all—”

“I’m hurt, sister.” The emphasis on that last word made it clear she considered Ga Eul anything but. “Have you gotten a wedding gift yet?”

“I’m trying to.” Ga Eul waved at a salesman with no customer to attend to but incredibly, the man ignored her and drifted away.

Ginger laughed. “Good choice of word. In the first place, it isn’t even your money. Secondly, I’m sure none of them are giving you the time of day. They know a fraud when they see one.” The line went dead and Ga Eul was left standing there, her phone frozen against her ear. How had Ginger known?

To her horror, the backs of her eyes grew hot and she knew the tears were coming. Stuffing the phone into her tiny bag, she took a deep breath and blinked furiously, fanning her warm face with her hands. Still, her vision blurred and she knew it wasn’t working. Hastily, she turned around, eager to escape but only succeeded in knocking into someone.

“Ouch! Watch where you are going!” The tone was as spoiled as anything she had ever heard from Ginger.

“I’m sorry,” she mumbled, eyes on the ground and head slightly bowed. She just needed to hold on until she got to the restroom and into the privacy of a cubicle.

“Ga Eul yang?”

This voice, clearly masculine, was so familiar it made her look up. Her heart skipped a beat when she realised who it was. “Yi Jeong sunbae.”

Her eyes were slightly red and the tip of her nose was too. She looked adorable but on the brink of tears, a little girl lost in a sea of white and blue, silver and diamonds. “What are you doing here?”

It was an innocent question but an unfortunately timed one. Her vision blurred again even as she lifted her chin defiantly. “Why does everyone act like I can’t be here? I’m j…just trying to get a w…wedding present.” She cringed as she heard her voice falter. Her throat was closing up, another sure sign that she was about to cry.

To his horror, Yi Jeong realised that Ga Eul was three seconds away from tears. “I’ll see you later,” he told Min Hee.

“But Oppa—”

Ignoring her protest, he wrapped an arm around Ga Eul and bundled her out of the shop. They just made it out when he felt her shuddering against him. “Oh Ga Eul yang, what has happened now?” he murmured, looking around for a private corner. There was a corridor leading to one of those stairwell exits and he walked her over to it. When he was satisfied that they were alone and no one could hear them, he stood still and let her cry in his arms. There was nothing elegant about the way she bawled and he could feel her hot tears soaking through the pristine silk of his shirt. Still, it was refreshingly sincere, so unlike the crocodile tears he always got from other women, he thought as he smoothed back the hair from her face, stroking its softness. “Don’t cry anymore Ga Eul yang,” he said softly, aware of the strange knot in his chest as she sobbed against him. “Tell me what’s wrong.”

“Everything!” she managed to choke out.

“Well, I can’t claim to solve everything but that’s a good place to start from. Now if you could get a bit more specific…”

She heard the gentle teasing humour in his voice and it soothed her raw feelings. Swallowing hard, she stifled her sobs, taking several deep breaths. “I must look like a mess,” she muttered, embarrassment slowly sinking in especially when she saw the huge wet splotch her tears had left on him. As if by magic, he produced a handkerchief and pushed it into her hands.

“Not for my shirt Ga Eul yang, for your face.” She flushed and he bit back a chuckle. “Now what is making my best girl friend so sad?”

Wiping her tears away, she told him the whole story. Thus far, only Jan Di knew what had happened and although Yi Jeong was a good friend to her, she had never said anything to him about Ginger.

His eyes darkened with anger. “And you never told your mother?”

“How can I? She’s getting married in a week and she put her life on hold so that she could raise me. Besides, Ginger has always been nice to her. It’s like she’s a different person in front of them.”

It would be easy enough to expose Ginger. Woo Bin would probably suggest having Ga Eul wear a wire and record all nasty remarks. But he doubted Ga Eul would agree to that and besides, what good would it do except create tension between the newlywed parents. “Well that’s one problem I can’t help you with until you decide what course of action you want to take.” He couldn’t even get Jun Pyo to sic the school population on Ginger because word of it would get back to Ga Eul’s mother and then Ga Eul would look like a villain. There was nothing he could do.

“You said you wanted to buy a wedding present?”

She nodded.

“But the salespeople wouldn’t give you the time of day right?” He scowled when she nodded again. “Morons. Let’s go in there and show them how sorely mistaken they are.”

“But…but I have a budget!” she protested, digging in her heels unsuccessfully as Yi Jeong determinedly pulled her back to the shop.

“Ga Eul, your future stepfather owns three private islands and a hotel chain apart from his media empire. Your budget could probably buy the mall we are in.” He opened the doors and pushed her through. “Now just keep quiet for a second and let me do this. After all, you owe me.”

“That was ten years ago and you were bullying my best friend. I’m done owing you.”

“I still have the scar from you running me over with your bicycle so your debt is kind of eternal.”

“There’s such a thing as plastic surgery.”

“What? And lose the only hold I have over you? I think not.”

She would have replied except that suddenly, they were surrounded by sales assistants who were practically salivating at the sight of So Yi Jeong. “Obviously you are a regular customer,” she muttered as they were escorted to some plush seats and someone hurried off to get them hot tea.

“You have no idea,” Yi Jeong smirked as she rolled her eyes. If there was one thing Ga Eul didn’t like about Yi Jeong, it was his Casanova status. He was sweet and sensitive to her, gentlemanly to Jan Di, a little terrified of Jun Hee noona but any other woman was his oyster and he knew it. He went through models and socialites like water and she marvelled that he had never run out of women to go out with.

The jewellery was brought to them. Ga Eul tried to mask her amazement at the way they were being treated. “That’s the necklace I was looking at,” she whispered to Yi Jeong when the next velvet covered tray arrived.

“Tell them you want it. It’s your money and you are in charge.”

After a few moments of hesitation, she gestured at the necklace. “Could you please wrap that up for me? It’s a present.”

“Certainly Miss.”

Ga Eul noticed the way the saleswoman’s eyes flicked over to Yi Jeong and she just knew what she, what all of them, must be thinking, especially given Yi Jeong’s reputation. Like hell she would let them think of her as another one of his playthings. “Here, take this. Charge anything else we buy to my card.”

The woman’s eyes almost fell out of her head when she realised that the card she held in her hands was a Black Card. “Of course Miss,” she said almost dazedly as she walked off.

“You just had to do that, didn’t you?” Yi Jeong smiled as she turned and shot him a grin. That was more like the Ga Eul he knew, spunky and independent.

“I have a reputation to maintain too you know.” She was about to say more when her phone rang again.

Her cheerful expression faded and as she stared down at the device in her hand, he knew who it was. Suddenly seized by a wild inspiration, Yi Jeong reached over and plucked the phone from her hand. “Hello,” he drawled, ignoring the fact that she was still sitting there staring at him with her mouth slightly opened. “I’m afraid she’s a little busy right now. Is it urgent? Alright, make it fast then.” Turning to her, he handed the phone back. “It’s Ginger, sweetheart,” he said loudly.

What the heck was he up to? “Y-yes,” Ga Eul stammered, her eyes still on Yi Jeong and the extremely pleased expression he wore.

“Who was that?” Ginger’s tone was curious and slightly venomous.

“That was…” Her best friend, apart from Jan Di? The man she had always nursed a slight crush on and for some reason, had placed her on his list of women worth respecting? She couldn’t say that in front of him!

“Ah, I get it. One of your cheap dates. Maybe you can bring him to the wedding.”

No one spoke about Yi Jeong like that and got away with it, not even Ginger. “As a matter of fact Ginger, I am bringing him to the wedding and he’s not a date. He’s my boyfriend and we are on a date so stop calling unless you have a good reason to.”

With that, she cut the call. The adrenaline rush was still racing through her when what she had said finally sunk in. “Oh my God, what have I done?”

“I thought you did very well actually.”

How could he sit there looking amused when she had just put her foot in her mouth and royally screwed up the situation she was in even further? “No I didn’t,” she practically wailed. “First I said you were my boyfriend—”

“You could do worse.”

“This isn’t about you Yi Jeong sunbae. I lied that I have a boyfriend whom I am bringing to the wedding, only I don’t have a boyfriend to bring to the wedding and Ginger is going to just massacre me for that and I don’t think I can bear a whole week in the resort with her—”

Abruptly, he pressed his fingers against her lips. Ga Eul’s eyes went wide but she stopped talking immediately. She felt a little light-headed but she was sure it was more to do with Yi Jeong’s touch than the current disaster she had created.

“Good. As much as I enjoy the sound of your voice, it’s nice when you’re quiet too. Firstly, I don’t mind being of service if it helps you tell Ginger to take her remarks and shove them where the sun doesn’t shine.” Her eyes got even bigger but then she started to giggle. “Secondly, I have been invited to the wedding too, as have Ji Hoo, Woo Bin and Jun Pyo. Thirdly, you can’t give up since you’ve thrown the gauntlet down and I’m not about to let Choi Jin Hee ruin your week.”

A slight frown furrowed her delicate brow and Yi Jeong sighed in exasperation. “What I am saying is, I’ll pretend to be your boyfriend during the wedding.”

“You?” she squeaked.

“Yes. I, So Yi Jeong, will be your boyfriend for that entire week. I promise to love and obey you, rescue you from evil stepsisters and see to it that your mother’s wedding is more than bearable. Is that okay with you?”


II.

“Yes. I, So Yi Jeong, will be your boyfriend for that entire week. I promise to love and obey you, rescue you from evil stepsisters and see to it that your mother’s wedding is more than bearable. Is that okay with you?”

………………

“Dude, are you serious about this?” Woo Bin watched as Yi Jeong pulled out suits from his wardrobe. Not that he was going to pack them; those would be done by the servants but he at least had to pick his outfits. “You are going to pretend to be Ga Eul’s boyfriend?”

“Yes, what’s so difficult to believe about that? She was in trouble and I decided to help. That is what friends do. That’s what we do for each other.”

“Hell no. I would never pretend to be your boyfriend. All you care about is yourself, you cold-blooded Casanova.” Woo Bin laughed loudly even as Yi Jeong pelted him with Gucci and Armani. “Hey, you’ll wrinkle those.”

“And here I was thinking it was the sexuality issue. Does Jae Kyung have anything to be worried about?”

Woo Bin quirked an eyebrow at the mention of his fiancée. They had met once or twice, she had seemed nice enough. Most of the time though, they had been with their parents and he knew nothing about her, except that she was pretty enough and intelligent. She would be going to the wedding too and it was with a little regret that he had to tell his latest fling that she would not be going with him. Not that he would have asked her anyway, that would send the wrong message. “I don’t think she cares actually. She’s never bothered to keep in contact. I heard about her attending the wedding from my parents who were informed by her parents.”

“That’s a little unusual. I’m sure she has friends who tell her about your escapades.” Woo Bin had been in the gossip magazines recently for a messy break-up with a supermodel. “And she hasn’t protested about the marriage?”

The mafia prince shrugged. “Not to me.”

“Maybe she’s a lesbian so she doesn’t care what you do with women.” It had just been a joke but as expected, Woo Bin’s eyes lit up.

“Now that would be hot. It would be even hotter if she bats for both teams.”

“Just don’t invite me to your threesomes.” He was generally considered to be a bad boy when it came to women but Song Woo Bin was just downright wild. Marriage was not going to sit well with Woo Bin if his future wife was possessive or lacked the patience and fortitude of a saint.

“Of course not. I don’t think Ga Eul would want to join us anyway.” Woo Bin raised his hands when Yi Jeong whipped around and narrowed his eyes at him. “Just kidding! I wouldn’t touch Ga Eul with a ten foot pole. Not when you’re always around marking your territory.”

Satisfied that he had picked out the right colours, Yi Jeong got started on his ties. Pulling out the huge drawer, he glanced down at the multiple rows of neatly rolled silk. “I do not mark my territory and I resent that statement. She’s just a good friend.”

“Right,” Woo Bin drawled sarcastically. “She’s such a good friend that every time she goes out with a boy, you get my men to shadow them to make sure she’s alright and that there’s no kiss at the front door. And while those men are out babysitting her and her date, you get another one of my men to run a complete background check on the guy. If he has any dark secrets, or secrets that fall under your loose definition of dark, you make sure that she somehow finds out about them eventually.”

“That’s called looking out for her.”

“That, my friend, is known as stalking in some countries. If the girl is still a virgin, it’s because you’ve got her locked in a figurative chastity belt of your invention.”

“You should have better things to do than think about Ga Eul’s…than to think about Ga Eul like that. And this conversation is at an end.” Picking out the requisite number of ties, Yi Jeong dropped them on the bed beside Woo Bin.

Woo Bin grinned as Yi Jeong went back to his wardrobe. For years he had known Yi Jeong had an unusually soft spot for the girl who had basically kicked his ass when he had attempted to help Jun Pyo bully Geum Jan Di. Yi Jeong had needed stitches but lied to his parents that the deep cut was a result of a bad fall. Ga Eul had felt so guilt stricken later that she had visited him secretly in the hospital. Their friendship had started from there and had grown stronger through the years. Except that Woo Bin had never been entirely sure that it was purely platonic. They watched movies together, he endured musicals because she wanted to attend them and Ga Eul had grown to enjoy pottery under Yi Jeong’s influence. He had held her hand when she had had to put down her beloved pet dog and she had sat with him for hours each day when his brother had run away from home.

“Have you considered the implications of pretending to be her boyfriend?”

Both of them jumped at the sound of another voice in the room. “Yah, Ji Hoo! Are you trying to scare us to death?”

All they got was a blink and then Ji Hoo glided in and sat himself on the sofa beside the window. “Well?”

“I’m not sure what you mean by implications,” Yi Jeong said evasively. He had run out of clothing to pack and with a resigned inner sigh, shut the huge doors of his walk-in wardrobe.

“It’s you going as her boyfriend. There will be a mini-gossip eruption and everyone will be watching the two of you. That means that your act has to be absolutely convincing. You have to hold hands, kiss and generally, act like you are in love which we all know, you have never been.”

“It won’t be a problem,” he said dismissively. In actual fact, Yi Jeong had thought about those very same issues and the thought of kissing Ga Eul made his stomach flutter oddly. He put it down to nerves. It was a strange thing, knowing that he might have to kiss his good friend.

“And Ga Eul is alright with public displays of affection?”

“I warned her about those. She seems okay.”

“What he means is that he didn’t give her much chance to say no,” Woo Bin chipped in. “If you want to back out my man, let me know. I don’t mind filling in your shoes here.”

“Not unless you want to leave your father without an heir,” Yi Jeong growled.

“Oh, them fighting words. By the way, Geum Jan Di knows about your little deal with Ga Eul. Jun Pyo told me to inform you that he’s got her locked in his house until she agrees not to kill you.”

Yi Jeong smirked. “That’s just his excuse to get close to her. What I’d like to know is if he can survive until the next morning.”

“My money’s on Jan Di.”

“So is mine,” Ji Hoo said quietly. There was another bet that was going on actually, one that Yi Jeong was unaware of. All of them had bet that by the end of the wedding, Yi Jeong and Ga Eul were either going to end up as a couple or would go their separate ways. He was hoping it would be the former. Still, only time would tell if he was right.

………………………….

It was still dark outside. She was early and the driver would arrive in half an hour’s time. Curled up on the sofa in her white blouse and ruffled pink skirt, Ga Eul looked around at the familiar hall, the walls illuminated faintly by the gentle orange glow of a single lamp. Soon she would have to leave this place, the only home she had ever known and would have to move into the palatial mansion Choi Ji Yong owned. It was a beautiful home and the room prepared for her was done up exactly the way she would have wanted it to be.

Only that memories couldn’t be transported, unlike furniture. The wallpaper was starting to peel slightly but she remembered helping her mother put it up. It had been their little project together. Her father doing her art homework as she struggled with her science and both of them sitting up late into the nights at the dining table. Her chest tightened almost painfully and Ga Eul took a deep breath. This was not the time to indulge in the past. “Omma is not selling the house. You can come back anytime. You have photographs. Deal with it,” she ordered herself sternly. Maybe going outside and waiting at the pavement would be a good idea.

Shivering in the morning cold, she tugged on her cardigan before locking the door, wishing she had worn her leggings. Then again, they wouldn’t go with the wedges on her feet. She opened the gate to the find the most welcome sight in the world greeting her. “Good morning Ga Eul yang.”

She couldn’t help smiling. “Yi Jeong sunbae.”

“Are you okay?”

It was uncanny. He didn’t even have to look at her sometimes to know something was wrong; he could sense it. “I am now. Why are you here? I thought we were meeting at the airport.”

“Well, I changed my mind. Most boyfriends would want to ride with their girls if they can.”

“And how would you know when you’ve never had a serious girlfriend before?” she teased. Because she was looking down the road for the car, she didn’t see the light in his eyes lessen.

“Just a hunch. Anyway, it gives us some time alone so that we can slip into our roles more comfortably.”

She pretended to smooth an imaginary wrinkle on her blouse, ignoring the lightning quick stab of disappointment that she knew she should not feel. He was right, this was just an act and she could not afford to let herself forget that. He was so breathtakingly gorgeous and he was being so good about this, her own personal knight in shining armour. It would be easy to forget he was just her friend, that he didn’t think or feel about her that way. “We’ve been dating secretly for a year now and we’ve chosen the wedding to step out officially,” she recited. “At all times in public we will hold hands and you may kiss me on the cheek, occasionally. I will refer to you as my boyfriend, and you will call me…”

“Whatever term of endearment comes to mind first.” Slipping an arm around her waist, he pressed a kiss against her forehead. She gasped and stiffened in his arms. “This isn’t a test Ga Eul yang and though you may be a straight ‘A’ student, no amount of theory is going to help. What we need is practice. You can’t react like that when I hold you sweetheart.”

Against her will, Ga Eul turned pink. She liked that almost as much as when he called her ‘Ga Eul yang’. “I’ll try,” she mumbled.

“You’d better. Or we’ll just have to keep practising again and again until you get it.”

“That sounds wrong.”

“It was meant to.” He winked at her. “Get used to this Ga Eul yang.” And then the car arrived and put an end to all conversation.

She was mortified and the butterflies in her stomach must have morphed into gigantic ones because her stomach was flip-flopping almost violently. This wasn’t entirely So Yi Jeong speaking; it was Casanova too. And for the first time in her life, she wasn’t safe from him.

…………………………

The flight to New Caledonia had been spent mostly in silence. Ga Eul had brought a book to read and had plugged in to her iPod. Yi Jeong had wisely left her alone; he always knew how far he could push and when to leave her alone. So he watched the in flight movie and for once, refrained from flirting with the stewardesses, to their obvious disappointment.

She became more nervous when they got into a chauffeur driven limousine which was at this moment, driving them towards the resort. Yi Jeong on the other hand, was completely relaxed. He was extremely familiar with the place; after all, Jun Pyo’s family owned it. It was beautiful, with resort styled luxury huts that extended out into the shallows of the sea, where a person could look down and view the fish darting out amongst colourful corals and seaweed in water that was shallow enough to wade in. It was a perfect place for romance.

“Do you think people will be able to tell if we’re faking it?” she suddenly blurted out. Her hands were clutched so tightly together her fingers were starting to feel numb.

“Sweetheart, your mother will make sure we have separate bedrooms. You let her think that you’re still her little girl and we’re behaving ourselves but you’re always welcome to pay me a midnight visit anytime.” For a moment, Ga Eul looked blankly at him. In those precious seconds, Yi Jeong hit a button and sent the partition screen up. He was just in time too.

“Why did you say that? We’re not sleeping together!”

“And we can’t let the driver know we’re not really together either, Ga Eul yang.”

She stopped and realised what she had just done. “I’m sorry, I wasn’t thinking…”

“Come here.” He held out his arm and after a moment’s hesitation, she scooted close to him. Draping his arm across her shoulder, he pulled her closer, close enough for him to feel the curve of her body against his, for him to rub his cheek against her hair. “Don’t worry so much. Everything will be fine.”

“I want to believe that,” she sighed. “I’m just afraid I’ll mess up.”

Looking down, he slid a hand beneath her chin and tilted her face up so that she looked him right in the eye. “I won’t let that happen, I promise.”

“Uh huh.” Here he was reassuring her and all she could think about was how nice he smelt and how long his lashes were and how they had never been this close to each other before in all their years together.

“You’ll just have to trust me alright?”

“Mmm, yes. Trust, got it.”

He chuckled and his hand slid up her cheek to cup her face. The expression on her face could only be described as dreamy and suddenly, the urge to kiss her was overwhelming. “Silly girl,” he whispered softly. She didn’t draw back, merely smiled at what she knew to be an affectionate term and Yi Jeong gave up struggling. After all, it was going to happen sooner or later and he had a perfectly good reason for doing this.

Leaning in, he nuzzled his nose against hers gently and before either of them could stop it, he kissed her.