Taewon-The Drawing

'Shae! Deen!' I called. 'Dinner is ready.'

'Can I play in your arcade room?' Deen asked me as he came down the stairs.

'No,' Mia and I said in unison.

'Did you wash your hands?' Mia asked him.

'Yes,' he replied. 'What are we having?'

He peered at the dishes in front of him. 'I don't want broccoli,' he complained, pointing at the green vegetable dish in front of him.

'Shush!' Mia scolded him. 'Don't be picky about food. We're intruding here anyway. Just eat your food without complaints.'

Deen crossed his arms. 'No!' he said stubbornly.

'Deen stop that!' Mia said, her ears going red. She was flustered and looked at my direction. I motioned her to stay shut.

'Ah, what to do,' I said out loud. 'I was about to give a surprise treat to someone who'd finish eating their vegetables. Too bad, he won't get it anymore.'

Mia frowned at me. No! she mouthed. I shot her down with a look.

The mention of a treat piqued Deen's interest. 'What treat?' he demanded.

'You'll know if you eat your broccoli,' I said in a smug tone.

Deen deliberated on it for a while. 'Okay,' he said at last. 'But you have to promise to tell me what it is!'

'Alright,' I shrugged. 'Eat your vegetables first.'

Mia rolled her eyes and put some vegetables on Deen's plate. He poked at it before taking a bite. His face contorted in disgust.

'Your treat better be good!' he warned childishly.

'It will be,' I said haughtily. 'Hong Taewon never disappoints!'

Mia looked at us incredulously. 'I can't differentiate between the kid and the adult here,' she said to Shae, who was laughing.

Jan arrived as we were finishing up our dinner.

'Mona!' Deen squealed as the dog entered. He leapt up to hug her. He petted her and the dog lazily enjoyed being pampered.

'I feel ignored,' Jan shook his head. 'Hey Mia!'

'Hey Jan sshi,' Mia greeted back.

'What're you doing here?' Jan asked curiously. 'Did Taewon hyung say anything bad to you again?'

'Why do you always assume the worst of me?' I asked sharply.

'Coz you always carry the I-hate-humanity-and-I-wish-you'd-all-die look on your face all the time,' he said.

'He has a point,' Mia agreed. Shae nodded. 'And you're eternally angry,' Shae added.

I cursed all of them inwardly. Gits, I fumed.

'Ahjusshi!' Deen called as he petted Mona. 'What's the treat?'

'Ahh,' I clasped my hands. 'The treat?'

Deen looked up at me expectantly.

'Treat? What treat?' Jan asked curiously. Mia and Shae also looked at me.

'The treat is...' I began. I deliberately paused to add some dramatic moments.

'Oh stop the theatrics and tell us already!' Shae whined.

'The treat is...' I announced again. 'Trip to my family home at Jeju Island!'

'Trip?' Deen repeated excitedly.

'Yahoo!' Jan and Shae hi-5ed each other. Mia looked confused.

'Taewon, can I talk to you in private?' she asked in a low tone, while the others were talking excitedly behind her.

'Follow me,' I said. We quietly left the room but I could feel Jan's eyes following us. I led Mia to the arcade room.

'This is too much!' she exclaimed. 'We can't go on a trip with you.'

'You don't have to come if you don't want to,' I said coolly. 'Deen can come.'

'Deen is too young,' she protested. 'Listen, it's just not right.'

'Why?' I asked her. 'Are you afraid that we'll do something to you or Deen?'

'No it's just...' she began. She took a deep breath. 'Okay fine! I do have apprehensions about why you're being so generous. But I'm also worried about many other things.'

'What if fans and paparazzi make a ruckus? What if TNT finds out about this? And the way you're being generous, I can't help but feeling that what sort of repayment you'll want...'

She faltered under my gaze. 'Ms. Mia,' I took a step towards her, not breaking our eye contact. 'You've been our fan for years. After knowing about us for so many years, do you really think we're the type of people who'd harm our friends?'

Mia bit her lip. 'An idol's image on-screen is different from their personality,' she said.

'True,' I said. 'But you know us personally. Which is why I'm repeating my question. Do you really think we're the type of people who'd harm our friends? We had plenty of chances to harm you and Deen. Our houses are connected by a tunnel. Did any of us ever try to harm you or your son?'

Mia was speechless. 'And about the paparazzi,' I continued. 'The place where we're going is owned privately by my family. And we're using my private jet to go there. We'll have plenty of privacy from the media and fans. Besides, my sister and Shae will be there with us. We can pass you off as their friend.'

Mia still did not reply. She was rooted to her spot, thinking of ways to counter me. Before she could open her mouth, I took out a piece of paper from my pocket.

'Deen drew this at school today,' I said, handing over the drawing to her. She examined it.

It was simple drawing. A child was holding the hand of two people. On his left was his mother, with brown hair resembling Mia. On his right was a man, but instead of a face he had a question mark. The family was at a beach, looking at the sunset.

Mia's eyes were tearing up. She turned away from me, clutching the paper. 'I'll have to prepare for tomorrow's work,' she said, her voice heavy from the tears she was fighting. 'Deen can stay here for a little longer. Please ask Shae to drop him off on her way home.'

Before I could open my mouth, she hurried away. When I entered the living room, she was already gone.

'Where's Mee?' Deen asked as he fed Mona dog biscuits.

'She had some work,' I lied. 'She said you can stay here for a while longer.'

Deen shrugged and continued to feed the dog. Jan looked at me suspiciously.

'Is everything alright between you two?' he asked. 'You didn't hurt Mia sshi again did you?'

'No!' I felt affronted. Seriously, the guy was getting on my nerves.

After a while, Shae and Deen took their leave. Jan went to bed, citing a busy schedule the next day. I cleared up the table and decided to call it a night too.

As I lay on my bed, my thoughts drifted back to Mia. I wondered what her past was. Who was Deen's dad and why is he not involved with his family? Judging from Deen's drawing, he probably never saw his dad. What was Mia hiding?

As these thought whirled around my head, my phone beeped. I unlocked the message to see Mia's text.

'Thank you for looking after Deen today. And...'

I could feel her hesitation.

'And...'? I texted back. I waited for a few minutes before my phone beeped again. I opened it and smiled.

'And... we'd love to go on the trip to Jeju Island.'