“You know, I knew you were going to say that,” Roz stuck her head out of the kitchen door. “Just be patient. I’ll bring it with the coffee.”
“Thank you!” Claire beamed.
“What do you want first?” Cheol moved to sit on the end of the chaise to reach the coffee table.
“One of everything except the cucumber sandwiches, those can wait for tea,” Claire leaned against his back.
All the people in the different corners of the room fell into conversations, or at least tried to make conversation. Alejandro and Wonjung managed pretty well, despite both of them accidentally lapsing into languages the other didn’t speak. Hannah joined in, guiding the conversation towards learning about Korea, wanting to know more about the place where her friend had moved and where all the new people were from.
Stephanie and Mika worked on getting some conversation out of the slightly taciturn Minjun and were seemingly unsuccessful until they discovered a shared love of mystery novels. Minjun’s whole face lit up as he talked about his favorite authors, most of whom neither of the others had heard of as they were Korean and Japanese authors that may not have even been translated to English yet, but they promised to look into them. Stephanie suggested her favorite series of mysteries about a man and his cats. Being a cat owner and cat lover himself, Minjun made a note to try and find them even if he had to try reading them in English.
Changho busied himself with Suhani and Roz in the kitchen making the tea and the coffee. Suhani gushed over him and his willingness to help out in the kitchen while Roz barely contained her giggles at her friend geeking out over meeting her bias. Really, she was handling it much better than her reaction on first seeing them indicated. Changho asked her about her work and let her chatter about everything she loved about working on inner city health, wellness, and epidemiology even though he couldn’t follow it all. She clearly loved what she was doing despite her complaints earlier and was glad to have an ear to spill all her excitement into. By the time they were taking the pots of coffee and tea out, she had moved on to asking him how he was liking his trip to New York and about the tour, letting him share his thoughts and excitement.
Roz set the pots down with milk, sugar, and spoons for everyone to help themselves before she pulled out her tablet and put on some chill party music on low. It had been a while since she had gotten all her old friends together for something like this and she realized how much she missed getting to see everybody. There were new faces, but they seem to have melted into the group almost seamlessly. She knew her friends were good people, but there was something comforting about seeing them being the awesome, welcoming people they were. Everyone was chatting and making friends except Cheol and Claire who seemed to still be in their own world, whispering quietly as they sat pressed together.
Claire made herself a cup of tea and put a couple of the sandwiches on a little plate. Cheol sat up, paying close attention to whatever it was she was explaining to him, nodding now and again. She giggled and held up one of the sandwiches, which he somehow managed to take all in a single bite, causing Claire to burst into giggles and his face to crinkle into a smile even with his chipmunk cheeks. After he swallowed his face full of food, she handed him the tea and he took a sip. He gave an approving nod of the mix of the sweet chaser to the salty sour flavor. Roz could almost hear the knowing see her friend undoubtedly said to her boyfriend.
“Don’t stuff yourself,” Roz interjected from her seat on the other side of the couch. “I have plans for dinner in a couple of hours.”
“Mmm, dinner, I can’t wait,” Claire was surprised at how hungry she was until she realised she had forgotten to have breakfast in her eagerness to get ready for the day.
“We didn’t have much for lunch,” Cheol mentioned after a pause. “Are you hungry?”
“Kinda, I forgot to eat breakfast this morning,” She admitted, biting her lip.
“Aww, how could you forget to eat?” He frowned at her.
“I was so busy getting ready for our museum date I forgot to get something,” She gave him an apologetic smile.
“I should have had us eat when we got there,” Cheol handed the tea back to her and gave her cheek a kiss. “I was just so excited to see everything with you.”
“If I was that hungry, I would have asked,” She patted his thigh. “But I had fun today. You made the trip so much more fun than if I had just gone by myself. Plus,” She leaned in to whisper, “you look hot today.”
“Yeah?” He laughed and blushed. Pulling her up so she was sitting across his lap, he put his arms around her waist. “You look beautiful today. Did I remember to tell you that today?”
“I think so,” She nodded, pretending to think about it. “You definitely said I did my make-up well, which is better than just saying that I am pretty.”
“You’re not pretty, 애인[76],” He palmed her waist, brushing upwards to her ribs. “You’re beautiful, breathtaking, hot, sexy…and mine.” He whispered the last against her ear. Claire blushed but settled herself against him.
“So, uh, how long have you two been together,” Mika asked, leaning closer to them.
“Uhh, about six months,” Cheol replied.
“So basically the entire time you have been working with the company,” Her friend gave them a raised eyebrow.
“What can I say?” Cheol shrugged feebly. “I liked her the first time I saw her. It just took me a couple of weeks to admit I couldn’t be without her.”
“And to ask the other members if they were okay with it,” Claire added.
“Do you usually ask your friends if you are allowed to date,” Mika squinted slightly in confusion.
“Things are a little complicated,” Claire perveracated.
“What’s complicated?” He couldn’t see what could possibly be so complex. “You like someone, you see if they like you, then you date for however long it works out.”
“Well that he’s not allowed to date for—” Claire paused to let Cheol recall exactly how long.
“Another five months,” He filled in.
“Then there is the fact that I was hired as a tutor for the group,” She continued. “Something, I am pretty sure they didn’t intend to include getting romantically involved with any of them.”
“Okay, I can see that,” Mika conceded. “So no one knows about you two?”
“The other boys do,” Claire stated the obvious, gesturing towards the other members who were there. “Roz does. Now the people here do...or will figure it out. I know I can trust you all not to say anything.”
“Our lips are sealed,” He made a little twisting motion ‘locking’ his lips. “But how have you kept it a secret for so long, honey? I would go crazy.”
“We see as much of each other as we can without it interfering with either of our jobs,” She said after thinking about it for a moment. “It helps that my job has given me an excuse to come by their place almost any time I want. Something that won’t be true when we get back.”
“Oh?” His interest was piqued.
“My job with them is ending after the tour,” Claire let out a sigh and allowed Cheol to hold her a little more tightly. “With the tour done, they don’t need me anymore and the company is going to focus on the local market for a while at least. And maybe, I can hope, I’m a victim of my own success. The members have learned English well enough they can work on getting better from here out without me.”
“It’s short sighted,” Cheol maintained. “Even if we didn’t keep working with you as much, plenty of the trainees could use help with English.”
“They have other people,” Claire shrugged, giving him a soothing pat.
“You’re better, you care more,” He leaned his head against hers.
“It’s okay,” She promised. “We’ll work things out. You’ll see.”
“I know,” He murmured against her hair. “I believe you.”
“You two are too adorable not to work it out,” Mika decided from beside them.
“Aren’t we?” Claire grinned at her friend, taking his hand and giving it a playful bounce.
“Can I say I love the two of you together,” Roz said from across the room. “I’m jealous AF but I’m still so happy for you.”
“How do you have luck like this?” Whined Suhani from her seat next to Roz. “I knew they wouldn’t be here if you just knew them from work. I mean, thank you for bringing them, but life is so unfair.”
“You’re jealous of a relationship where I got to go out on my first actual date with him six months in?” Claire pointed out sardonically. “Trust me, if we weren’t sneaking around in Korea, this wouldn’t have been a surprise to you. I know you follow them on social media and no I don’t mean we’d be posting selfies on Instapics. Everything would probably have blown up and I probably would have summarily sent back here, all my things on the slowest boat they could find to ship it back at the lowest price. And if the fans found out, then all hell would break loose.”
“I know they have a dating ban, but do you really think the fan reaction would be all that bad?” Suhani pressed.
“I think it’s hard to say and would depend on which fans you are talking about.” Claire pondered. “Lots of places it isn’t unusual for celebrities to have partnerships.”
“It’s part of what makes celebs fun,” Hannah giggled. “Sometimes it’s humanizing to know they get together and break up just like us. Not to mention, they also have screwed up relationships like all of us. Someone cheats, someone gets bored and leaves. Money and good looks don’t make it easier to be in a relationship.”
“Cameras don’t make it easier to be in a relationship,” Cheol sighed. “They don’t make it easy to live in general.”
“I’m not envious of that part,” Roz was happy to admit. “Cute boyfriend who is clearly madly in love with you, for sure, but the dorm life, keeping it a secret, avoiding having your life all plastered on some magazine page…mmmm, not so much.”
“Also, the hiding under beds,” Claire hid her face behind her hands as she let out a groan. “That was a new high point for me and I really could have used you guys.”
“Oh that sounds like a story,” Alejandro leaned forward in his seat, always eager for a tale, true or not. Claire, Cheol and the other members recounted the episode together, filling in details for each other. All of her friends asked the questions they had been dying to know about her, her new friends, life in Seoul, and her job. It was fun getting to share all the things about her new life with her old friends and it was such a relief to have people to share all the big and little things happening in her life.
It struck Claire how alone she would have been without becoming friends with all the members. Of course it wasn’t exactly the same, she had a history with her friends in New York. They knew how ridiculous she could be and they had seen her when she felt stupid and when she did well on a difficult task. She hadn’t let the members see her like that, they were friends but she was still their tutor. That meant she had kept a barrier between them and her problems, worries, or stress. Maybe, now that it was done, now that they weren’t going to be her students, they could be more. They could be real friends.
By the time dinner rolled around, surprisingly, it felt like everyone was old friends who had known each other forever. The talk was easy and free as everyone got up to fill their plates with the food Roz had prepared for dinner. She had prepared an odd mix of comfort foods and Claire’s favorites she knew she hadn’t been having since she moved to Korea. There were mashed potatoes, macaroni and cheese, meatloaf, latkes, brisket, salad, and an apple cake.
“How much time did you spend prepping this?” Claire asked.
“Just a couple of evenings,” Roz shrugged as she passed Claire a plate to fill. “Luckily most of this is stuff you can make ahead of time and just stick in when you want to cook it. But you know me, I had to feed everyone. My grandmother would never let it go if I let someone leave my house hungry.”
“Nanna Schwartz is pretty scary when she wants to be,” Hannah admitted from behind them. “That woman can guilt you from a hundred miles away.”
“You look like you’ve lost weight, actually,” Roz observed as Claire took a few steps back from the table, plate full of food. “I can’t believe I’m going to say this, I’m channeling both my mother and my grandmother, but are you eating enough?”
“Uhhh, maybe?” Claire hadn’t particularly been paying attention. “The schedule with the boys can be a little odd so it’s easy to skip a meal here and there by accident and the days can be really long.”
“Have I not been taking good enough care of you?” Cheol came up behind her, holding his own plate.
“You’re doing just fine,” She gave his cheek a kiss as they waddled together to their seat on the sectional. Cheol sat down and set his plate aside to let Claire sit in the space between his legs. Reaching around under her arms, he put a bite of potatoes on the fork and tried to reach her mouth, but the angle forced her to hunch to take it in her mouth.
“You want to make sure I eat first?” She questioned with a raised eyebrow as she looked over her shoulder. “I can do it myself.”
“I like taking care of you,” He nuzzled against her neck. She chuckled and turned in her seat to let him reach her more easily.
“Let’s just share, hmm?” She suggested, picking up the second fork from the other plate and picking up a little brisket and feeding it to him.
“So we should have just given you two one plate,” Suhani stated, holding back a chuckle.
“Yeah, it would have been just fine,” Claire shrugged, accepting another bite as she put more food on the fork for him. “We share a lot of food when what he is eating isn’t too spicy for me.”
“He was feeding her on her second day with us,” Minjun rolled his eyes.
“It was one bite and Changho did, too,” Cheol defended with a chagrined shrug as he gave Claire another bite.
“Don’t bring me into this,” Changho shook his head.
“Aside from the very spicy dumpling, I’ve always enjoyed when you fed me,” She gave a pained smile at the memory.
“Oh god,” Cheol covered his face. “I still feel terrible. I can’t believe you comforted me after that, even kissed me.”
“You looked so worried and it was an accident,” She pulled his hands from in front of his face. “I do still wonder a bit what that dinner actually tasted like.”
“I’m so sorry,” He held her face and peppered her forehead and cheeks with kisses. “Never again. I’ll give up hot food. I’ll--”
Claire pinched his lips and shushed him. “You love your hot food and you have been very careful. Besides, you are cute when you get all glowy from the spice.”
“How can you stand them?” Alejandro leaned over to ask Wonjung. “Are they like this all the time?”
“No,” Wonjung whispered conspiratorially. “Sometimes we are lucky and they just lock themselves up in his room.” Snickers and throat clearing rippled around the room.
“Don’t hate us because we’re beautiful,” Claire sniffed superciliously and flicked a lock of hair over her shoulder with a faked overconfidence which broke after a few seconds, sending her into a fit of giggles.
Everyone ate their fill of the delicious food, a few of the boys going back for seconds and thirds. Cheol and Wonjung volunteered to help clean up and put away the extra food. They gathered up the silverware and plates to put in the dishwasher and headed to the kitchen. When everything that would fit was in the machine, Roz shooed Wonjung back to the party so that she and Cheol could pack up the leftovers and she could have a word alone with him.
“Thanks for the help with everything,” She smiled at him as he helped put foil over one of the dishes.
“Yeah, I’m happy to help,” He replied cheerfully.
“So there is just one thing you and I need to talk about,” Roz said as she slipped the dish he had covered into the fridge. “I’m not going to pretend
I don’t think you love my friend as much as she loves you or that I don’t think you are good enough for her. But I’ve known Claire for a while now and I just need to know that if things go wrong, you aren’t going to leave her hanging out there by herself. Even if that is what she tells you to do.”
“I wouldn’t,” Cheol insisted. “I would never--”
“Even if the company threatens to drop you?” Roz pressed. “What happens when they say it’s her or your career?”
“I...don’t know,” Cheol stopped in the middle of what he was doing. “I can’t just give up everything I have worked half my life for but,” he paused and took a breath. “Even if something pulls us apart I won’t let her get hurt over this.”
“It’s nice you want to say that, but you can’t stop her from getting hurt,” She shook her head. “But you can make sure that she is not left alone to clean up whatever happens to her...to put her life back together. If you can’t make sure she isn’t alone and jobless and in desperate circumstances there, send her home to us. Understood?”
“I can’t make her do something she doesn’t want to do, you know that,” He told her seriously. “But I can swear I will do anything I can to make sure that whatever happens, she doesn’t end up alone and in real trouble.”
“Thank you,” Roz gave him an earnest hug. “I know you love her, I do, but it is hard to be so far away from my best friend.”
“You’re a good friend,” Cheol patted Roz’s back. “She loves you so much and I am glad she has friends like you guys.”
“I’m glad she has you, too. I can tell you’ve been so good to her and she deserves nothing less.” Roz gave him one final squeeze before letting him go. “Let’s finish this up and get back.” Cheol nodded and they both got back to packing up the food.
The Tutor Page 43