Joonjae-The Kid has Weird Tastebuds

The reporter was in shock. I sensed Mia holding on to Deen tightly. Fear was emanating from her. I could feel her eyes piercing at me from the back, questioning whether the person standing in front of her really was one of her idols. I calmly picked up the memory card from the ground. The crash detached it from the camera.

The reporter was now groveling nervously as I looked straight into his eyes. 'If a whiff of this gets out, I'll make sure you will not be able to live in Korea anymore,' I threatened. I leaned in closer so that the next words will be heard only by the reporter. 'And, the next time you spy on any of us again, I'll smash the camera on your head. Got it?'

He swallowed hard. 'Y-y-es sir,' he stuttered. Gathering the parts of his broken camera, he got up.

'Is it just you tonight or are there more?' I asked.

'O-o-o-only me, sir!'

I scanned around. There did not seem to be any other reporter in sight.

'Scram!' I ordered the chubby guy.

'Y-y-y-y-yes sir!' the reporter was about to tear up as he ran for his life. I sighed and turned around. The mother-son duo were staring at me, fear widespread in their eyes. I went up to them and bowed my head low.

'I am sorry you had to witness that,' I apologized sincerely. 'I lost my cool and behaved in a crude manner.'

My formal tone seemed to have taken her aback. 'You don't have to apologize,' Mia said hurriedly. 'I understand that life as a kpop star is tiresome. On top of that, the constant public scrutiny is even worse. How about we go ahead to watch the fireworks and forget about all this?'

Deen pulled himself from his mother's hold and extended his little hand to me.

'Ahjusshi, will you come with us?' he asked in his childish voice. I smiled and took his hand.

'Yes,' I answered. Mia gave me an assuring smile and we headed towards the park. To be more cautious, I put on a pair of large glasses, a cap and a nose mask to avoid any more pesky reporters. I keep these things in hand because we may run into nosy reporters or sasaeng fans any time. Staying prepared for such situations became a second nature.

The park was a little crowded. No doubt families were out to watch the fireworks as well. Deen was very excited. He raced with Mona towards an ice cream stand.

'Mee, please buy me an ice cream cone,' he pleaded his mother.

'You just recovered from a cold,' Mia said strictly. 'No ice cream.'

'Oh come on!'

'No.'

'Why not have some cake instead?' I suggested him. 'That stall over there has some delicious ones.'

That diverted Deen's attention towards a cake stand. He gave a pleading look to his mother, who sighed and said 'Alright. But just one cake!'

The boy squealed in delight and gleefully ran over to the cake stand.

'Give him sweets and he's set for the rest of the day,' Mia laughed. I looked at the child, happily gorging down his cake.

'He is a good kid,' I complimented. 'You did a great job in raising him.'

'I still have a long way to go,' she sighed.

'You'll do fine,' I assured her.

'Ahjusshi!' Deen called out. 'Let's go have some tteokbokki!'

'Didn't he just have some sweet stuff?' I asked, confused.

'His taste buds are weird,' Mia chuckled. 'Let's go Joon-' she stopped short. A realization seemed to hit her.

'I completely forgot!' she uttered softly. 'I should be addressing you as something else since we're out in public! What if someone recognizes you if I call you by your real name?'

'Just call me Jun,' I sighed. 'There are way too many people with that name in Korea. No one will know.'

'Jun sshi?'

'Just Jun would do,' I said. 'You don't have to bother with formalities around me. Let's go and get Deen his tteokbokki.'

Mia nodded and we followed Deen to a tteokbokki stall. After getting the tteokbokki, we settled at a secluded area near the pond to get a good view of the fireworks. I lowered my mask to take a bite off the spicy rice cakes. Mia sat next to me, while Deen and Mona were playing with a ball in the distance.

'How long have you been working for Soo-Yon and Cheng?' I asked.