3 Chapter 3
Seoul, South Korea
Jongno Fire Station
The driver waited to get the door until they were ready. Traffic wasn’t bad and they got to the Fire Services building early so they waited.
Myo Mi-Sun loved meeting fans, signing autographs, and taking pictures. Smaller, more private venues like this she felt more comfortable in because there were less screaming and demands for her undivided attention.
When Rain was younger, she tried to please everyone and wouldn’t leave until every last person that wanted one got her autograph or a photo with her. That made outings that should have been a couple of hours at most, into an all-night ordeal that left her exhausted and mentally drained.
More than once she had collapsed in the middle of the fanfare, and was nearly trampled by those rushing to her aid.
The doctors said it was anxiety and something easily dealt with care of medication. But if the nation knew that Myo Mi-Sun was medicating before seeing her adoring public, they would turn their backs on her.
It’d ruin her!
“Are you sure you don’t want me to escort you?” Jae asked when Rain popped a pill in her mouth then swallowed it.
Rain smiled. “I’m fine. This is what I do, Uncle. It’s okay. My thanks isn’t nearly enough to make up for the risk to their lives when putting out the fire. It was only materialistic things, not anything worth risking their lives to save. I owe this to them,” she reminded him.
Jae didn’t entirely agree, but he wasn’t going to press the matter either. He had a long list of things he needed to organize before he arranged interviews for a bodyguard for his niece.
He still hadn’t told her that she’d be getting one.
“Keep an eye on your cousin,” Jae warned.
Dae-Ho gave him two enthusiastic thumbs up with a teeth-baring smile. “I always do… Oh ew, you are not wearing that bow with those earrings,” he said, pulling the bow off his cousin’s head. “Fluff the hair for body and spritz some oil on it for shine.” He went to work doing her hair while she reapplied some lipstick. “Make sure you smile pretty so I can get lots of pictures to post online.”
Rain smiled wide and made a heart with her hands and Dae-Ho clicked a picture with his mobile phone.
“I’ll be across the street having lunch,” Jae said. “If you need anything, just call.”
Rain held her phone up and waved it at him.
He smiled; her phone case had light pink banana milk carton cartoons on it.
“Okay, Uncle!” she beamed with a smile.
Jae chuckled then motioned for the driver to get the door for him.
When the door closed behind him, Rain’s smile fell.
Dae-Ho pinched Rain’s cheeks, getting a smack in return. “Adding a little natural blush,” he said.
“I’ll bruise, you know that,” she whined, sliding her phone in her pocket. “Uncle is up to something.”
“What do you mean?” Dae-Ho asked, watching his father hurry across the street to the quiet restaurant across from the Fire Services building.
She looked around at the small crowd that had started to gather in the parking lot, waiting for her. “Uncle’s been on his phone talking in hushed whispers and went into the office on the weekend. That isn’t normal. Oh. Oh! Uncle isn’t replacing me, is he?” she asked in a panic. “There’s been new faces around the office, handsome and beautiful faces. He’s replacing me, isn’t he?” she whined.
Dae-Ho snorted. “Not that I’m aware of. And where are these handsome faces you’re seeing that I haven’t? If Dad’s holding out on me, I’m going to be mad.”
She wiped her eyes. “You aren’t saying that to make me feel better, are you?” she hiccupped.
“Do I ever lie to you, Cousin?” he rhetorically asked; they both knew the answer to that. “Most likely Dad’s fighting with the insurance company about the fire. Because it’s arson, that makes it a legal matter and they don’t want to pay. Isn’t that always how it goes?”
Rain shrugged; she didn’t know. “I guess. If you’re lying I’m going to be mad.”
He gasped as if offended.
“Uh huh. Ready?” she asked with a sigh.
“Of course!” he beamed then wagged his brows. “I can’t wait to see some hot firemen.”
Rain groaned. “Why I bother with you, I’ll never know.”
“Exceptional taste on your part, Cousin,” Dae-Ho reminded her with a smile.
The driver got the door for them and Dae-Ho got out first, which was normal for them, and looked around to make sure it was safe before letting his cousin out. He wasn’t an expert in security, but he knew what intrusive paparazzi looked like and usually spotted them before Rain could.
It was clear, that Dae-Ho could tell, so he waved over Fire Inspector Bae Kwan.
“Inspector,” Dae-Ho greeted with a bow. “We’re ready when you are. For security reasons, and for the privacy of your crew and their families that came, we’d like to move this inside.”
Inspector Bae Kwan bowed. “Of course. I hope it isn’t imposing that the guys invited their families.”
Dae-Ho kept the smile on his face; he was good at playing the game, something he learned from his father. “Not at all. Myo Mi-Sun would have been disappointed if she didn’t get to meet everyone. If you can please clear the parking lot then Myo Mi-Sun will join you,” he said before grunting.
Rain punched him in the left butt cheek for talking about her as if she wasn’t sitting there waiting for him to move out of the way.
She hated it when he did that, but she understood why it was necessary.
Inspector Bae Kwan bowed again then hurried to the parking lot to clear it for them.
Dae-Ho stepped to the side and helped his cousin out of the back of the transport van before the driver closed the door behind them.
“Pull around the block then park so you’re not blocking the Chairman’s view,” he instructed the driver.
They nodded and did as instructed and the transport van pulled away.
Unfortunately, the Inspector wasn’t fast enough and those lingering in the parking lot saw their idol and came rushing over.
“Myo Mi-Sun!” they shouted, getting the attention of those waiting inside. “Myo Mi-Sun!”
She smiled and waved with both hands, excitably.
“Just breathe,” Dae-Ho said through a smile. “Just breathe.”
Rain nodded, trying to do as he was coaching, but her medications hadn’t kicked in just yet.
The crowd of firemen and their families started swarming them, and Rain retreated backwards. She accidentally stepped off the curb, rolling her ankle in the process, and a shriek of surprise broke past her lips.
“Whoa, I have you,” someone said, catching Rain and helped her regain her footing.
She looked up at him with wide eyes. “Thank you,” she said, breathlessly.
A beautiful smile filled his face and a blush darkened his high cheekbones. His hazel-green eyes sparkled and were encased in thick dark brown lashes that no man should have, and his taller frame caused him to tower over her even though she was standing on the curb.
The man offered a slight nod of the head with a wink before continuing down the sidewalk, away from the gathering crowd.
And as he went, he slid the pink banana milk carton print mobile phone he took off her in his pocket.
