THREE YEARS LATER
Rachel
Rachel Chambers flushed the toilet, grabbed her one piece of luggage along with her carry-on laptop bag and her purse, grateful the stalls were big enough to hold everything, and walked out to the row of sinks. She looked in the mirror and gave herself the once over. Her brown hair had survived the trip from South Korea in relatively good fashion, a braid can do that if done right, and her minimalist make-up didn’t need refreshing. If only her emotions could be as in order as her looks. However much she didn’t want to be in Illinois this particular week, she’d promised her Grandfather, her Harabeoji,* she would be there.
Rachel looked at her phone when a text message came in saying her rental car was ready as soon as she stopped by the counter. She paused to look at the lock screen before seeing what the message was about. It, like several other screens, was of Lex, the leader of her most favorite K-Pop band Hydra. His real name was Park Min Jae, but he only used it for official things. There were nine members in his group, all with their own specific talents, but Lex had always been her most favorite, her bias.
While on her phone she looked at her schedule for the next week. It was all pretty open until Wednesday. What were the odds her Mom’s 50th birthday, the annual family reunion, and a gala held in her mother’s honor would fall during her work’s annual two weeks of vacation? The president of the company she worked for practically forced everyone to take those two weeks off. Her boss once said it was to remind everyone they were human, and they should go see their families. She thought it was because her boss wanted to have a few weeks without having to deal with people on a first hand basis, but most of the company didn’t have a problem having scheduled time off. What ever his reasons for giving the time off, it did seem like it was a little earlier this year than last. Knowing her Harabeoji, who had a fairly extensive reach when it came to his family, it was likely to have been orchestrated by him. Except for the date of her Mom’s birthday, every step of this journey had been under his watchful eye.
Sighing in resignation, she put her phone in her pocket, straightened her oversized navy blue sweater shirt over her olive green leggings, grabbed her stuff, and walked out of the restroom near the customs area. Right into a wall of tweenagers.
Normally she’d reserve that term for twelve to thirteen-year-olds, but the term also fit the group of girls aged twelve to twenty-something standing before her squealing with excitement. Looking around them, she saw the thing, or rather the person, who had caught their attention.
Pressed against the wall was a taller Korean man who had gotten onto first class right before takeoff. In spite of the lack of designer clothes and makeup the man with the bleached hair and dark roots looked a lot like Park Min Jae.
Some of the girls squealed in delight, talking among themselves trying to get a view of him so they could take pictures, while the three in front took accusatory stances.
“You’re him, aren’t you? You’re Lex of Hydra!” the lead girl declared.
“I... uh –” The guy looked around nervously for a way out. His eyes briefly locked with Rachel’s.
Wait! It really is Park Min Jae! Her heart leaped at being so close to him in such a different environment. He was less than ten feet away! But where were his bodyguards?
She looked around for the familiar, ominous figures, but didn’t see any lurking in the shadows swooping in to the rescue. Maybe Min Jae was only traveling with one and he had gone on ahead to get the van ready. Someone was going to have to step in to help him if the bodyguard didn’t return soon.
Rachel sighed and watched anxiously as nobody stepped up. What was one of NIK Entertainment’s highest grossing celebrities doing in Chicago without an escort? He was complicating her vacation, that’s what. But she couldn’t just leave him. She may not work in the same department of the company as him, but there was no way the president would forgive her if she just left him there.
“Tom!” Rachel suddenly called over the crowd and tried to push through. They didn’t budge. “Let me through!” she growled at one of the younger girls in the back. “You’re harassing my brother!” The girl squeaked and moved to the side. “Thank you!” she said and moved in closer to the guy. “Tommy!” She made sure every time she said Tom it sounded more like “doum,” the Korean word for help. She also made sure to look at him pointedly hoping he’d understand her meaning.
Finally, he looked her way again and the scene she was creating. “Doum! Over here!” She waved and he gave a small nod. When she made it to the front, she targeted the girl who looked at least half a decade younger than her own 26 years, garishly accessorized with all things Hydra, and shoved her out of the guy’s personal space.
“Hey!” the older teenager protested.
“Do you mind? You’re stopping him from getting to the restroom!” Rachel said, “Clear a path, people!” she yelled at the fans crowding him and pushed people out of their way to the bathroom.
“Go into the bathroom and wait. I’ll get rid of these girls and let you know when it’s safe,” Rachel said to Park Min Jae in Korean.
He nodded at her and made his escape into the one room few girls would go into.
“Just what do you think you are doing?” Fan Club Girl #2 demanded once he was safely out of their grasp.
“Protecting my brother from being mauled by walking fan clubs like yourselves,” Rachel said with more bravado and authority than she felt.
“Your brother?” Fan Club Girl #3 scoffed, looking at Rachel and then at where the guy had gone. “Yeah, right! That’s Lex and you’re just trying to get him to yourself.”
Rachel rolled her eyes as she folded her arms. “It’s not my fault he was adopted or chose to work in Korea after he graduated. It’s his job to look like Lex. I’ve told him a thousand times not to go out looking like Lex if he wasn’t working, but he doesn’t listen to me.” The girls didn’t look as confident, but refused to back off. “And if you don’t want a ton of lawyers on you for invading his personal space, you’ll continue on your way or at least observe some professional distance.”
At her threat, most of the crowd dissipated. The parents who were waiting in the wings grabbed the younger girls, and most of the older girls slinked off, their desire for self-preservation greater than their desire for an impromptu fan meeting.
“If he really is your brother and you’re traveling together, why didn’t you come out of customs at the same time?” Fan Club Girl #1, one of the few that stayed, asked in a last desperate attempt to prove she was right and Rachel was just stealing the opportunity.
“Because I really had to pee,” Rachel snapped. The Fan Club girl looked disgusted, so Rachel continued. “Have you ever traveled overseas before?” The girl shook her head. “You can’t get up and use the bathroom whenever you want and we had already landed. I was able to make it through customs, but I was about to explode. I ran ahead not expecting him to be mobbed in such a closed area. Now go away before I report you.”
Rachel leaned up against the wall near the opening of the men’s restroom. “I got rid of the crowd, it’s safe to come out,” she called, and waited for him to finish.
She waited until she heard a toilet flush, then a sink turned on before she moved to the opening.
“You may as well wash the gel out of your hair and have it hanging in your face to disguise you a little; and take off your earrings. You won’t be suspected as much if you do,” she called into the bathroom. She heard some splashing, then the sound of the hand dryer blowing. Mentally she replayed some of Hydra's early videos in her head while she waited. One she liked to revisit was where they were doing some swimming and they posed for the camera while soaking wet. She wondered what Min Jae would look like right now if she were in there filming him washing his face and hands. Her thoughts were interrupted when “Tom” came out of the restroom. She gave him a once over. “Now you don’t look as much like Lex.” His bleached hair was wet and hung a little more in his face, not at all the style he wore before. Then she looked closer. “You still haven’t taken off your earrings?” Quick as a wink, she reached out and pulled one of Tom’s left earrings off. The fake earring was tightly put on, but still it came off without tearing anything.
“Hey!” he said, covering up his ear to hide it. “How did you know it was fake?” he asked when she handed the clip-on back to him.
“It doesn’t matter,” Rachel said, avoiding the question. “What matters is Lex wears earrings. You, Tom, do not. So, take off the other ones.”
“You’re Korean is very good, Miss,” Min Jae said as he started removing the other four earrings he had on and put them in his pocket.
“Thanks,” Rachel said with a bit of a bow at his compliment. Most foreigners to Korea weren’t as fluent as she was, and that was probably what he saw her as, with her lighter brown hair and skin just a shade or two darker than pale and odd golden-gray eyes.
“Did you learn it while you were in Korea?” he pressed.
“Yes. Well, some of it. I was an exchange student when I was younger, so I learned a lot then.”
“And you kept with learning the language? That’s cool,” he complimented as he finished with the last one. “How do I look?”
She looked him over. “Here,” she said, pulling a well-worn Cubs hat out of her bag. “Put this on. With this and your hair in your eyes, you should be able to get where you need to without too much difficulty.”
“Thanks. I forgot to grab a hat in my rush to get on the plane.” Min Jae dug a face mask out of his pocket and put it on. “Just curious, why are you going this far for a complete stranger?” he asked.
“Because you need the help, and when I’m in crisis management mode, I don’t do things halfway. Besides, you’re not a complete stranger. I work for NIK Entertainment too.” she said pulling her ID card out of her purse and flashed it to him, grateful she had forgotten it in there. “I won’t be able to relax until I know you can get to your destination safely. It’s a thing.” Rachel looked at her watch and moved to leave. “I have to go. You should be able to get to your van now without being noticed.” She bowed and walked away towards the rental car counter.
“Jamkkanmanyo!” he called out to her, asking her to wait for a moment in Korean.
She stopped and turned to look at him. “Ne?” she responded with Yes.
“What is your name?” he asked, coming up to her. “I’d like to know the name of the person who helped me, and you flashed your badge so quickly I didn’t get to see it.”
“I’m Rachel Chambers. Good luck on your vacation, Tom,” she said, and started walking away again when he grabbed her hand.
Rachel stopped as if a jolt of electricity had shot up her arm and looked at his hand holding onto hers, then she looked up at his face. Min Jae was not particularly known to reach out to people. In fact, he was famous for his lack of skinship, even among his band-mates.
“M-my name isn’t Tom,” he stuttered, dropping her hand suddenly as his ears turned red at the tips. “It’s-it’s Park Min Jae.”
“I know,” she said with a smile. “I just called you that to distract the annoying people around you. Now I really have to go, my car keys should be ready at the rental counter,” she said, walking away, hoping he wouldn’t notice her own flushing cheeks.
“Can I ask for one more favor from you?” he asked as she turned away.
“What do you need?” Why did it feel like it would not be the last one? And it really didn’t matter if it weren’t.
“I need a ride to a hotel.”
“Which one?” she asked.
Min Jae looked past her at the wall. “Uh, the Four Seasons?”
She turned around and saw an advertisement for the Four Seasons. “Did you just choose that one from the poster on the wall?” she asked suspiciously.
“Maybe,” he dodged. “So can you take me?”
“Don’t you have a bodyguard waiting for you with a van?” Rachel asked, looking around; he should have been there by now.
“No.”
“No? Where is he?!” she demanded. This admission changed her from relaxed to panicking.
“Back in Korea.” Rachel’s horror grew as he continued “He’s on vacation right now, same as us.” He sounded like he was trying to pass it off as nothing big, but it didn’t work.
“Along with your manager, no doubt,” Rachel quipped, her voice rising in frustration. “Doesn’t anybody know you are here?”
“If they catch a picture of me on the internet they might. Otherwise...” He paused to think. “...no.”
Rachel’s shoulders slumped in defeat. She rubbed her hand over her eyes and blew out a steadying breath. “Fine. I’ll give you a ride. Although it is in the opposite direction.”
Min Jae gave a relieved smile. “Thank you so much. I’ll make it up to you later.”
“Ne, ne,” Rachel said, basically saying yeah, yeah. “Let’s get out of here before anybody else recognizes you.”