Not Quite a Bond Girl – Chapter 3
Charity functions, In Ah decided, were evil. She had to attend them anyway, which made them a necessary evil, but it didn’t make them any less boring, pretentious or sanctimonious. All the people who attended them pretended to care about the cause but in reality they only wanted to be seen caring by the right people. The entertainment was always modest and decidedly non-entertaining and the conversation more boring than she had thought possible. Really, In Ah thought, give her a fashion show any day.
Unfortunately, she was now a CEO and thus contractually obliged to show up at these things and pretend with the rest of them to care about cancer patients, hungry children in Africa or endangered species, while giving away as little money as possible but enough to be deemed generous by others. And, of course, spend the rest of the evening being bored out of her mind while old men tried to impress her as if they were fifty years younger once they had a few drinks.
The charity function for the education of girls in India was no different. It was taking place in the Singapore hotel of her company, which made it damn near impossible for her to weasel her way out of it, and so she had spent the last hour smiling at people and listening to their monotonous lectures on why it was right to donate money to this particular charity when all they really needed to say was “because it will make you look good in front of journalists”. By now her feet ached and she was looking forward to dinner.
A few people arrived fashionably late – although why they would want to minimize their exposure to the journalists mingling in the crowed eluded In Ah. It couldn’t be because they cared about the cause of the day. In Ah let her eyes sweep over each new arrival, but she didn’t recognize any of them. Unremarkable men in unremarkable suits, the lot of them. The last had brought along a couple of unremarkable bodyguards as well.
Maybe it was the boredom that was getting to her, maybe something had caught her eye, but she looked over to the group a second time. The guest greeted the host, smiled charmingly and bowed politely while his bodyguards scanned the crowd. It had been one of them that had made her pause. For a moment she thought it was because he reminded her of Choi Ryu, but a closer look proved her wrong – he was Choi Ryu.
He looked over the crowd just like the other bodyguards and In Ah couldn’t tell if he’d seen her or not. His face was as impassive as she remembered and it made her heart beat faster, despite the scars she could now see on his neck. She tried to get his attention by craning her neck and peeking curiously in his direction, but he seemed determined not to see her.
His new employer moved away from the host and started to mingle with the crowd, which In Ah took as a chance to satisfy her curiosity. She wanted to know what he did here, and who that man was. A thousand possible answers ran through her mind while she slowly meandered closer to him. It didn’t take long until she found herself face to face with him. Choi Ryu didn’t even flinch when she stood right in front of him. He swiftly moved aside before she had opened her mouth and found herself faced with his employer.
The man was in his mid-fifties, slightly pudgy and his hair was beginning to thin, but all that paled in comparison when one looked at the decidedly expensive tailored suit with the custom-made golden cuff links that were engraved with something that looked like a fox or dog. He bowed and offered her his hand. “Lee Gang Min, I own the Yellow Sea Shipping company, delighted to meet you.”
A year of training in acting like a CEO took over and In Ah smiled and shook his hand, momentarily forgetting about Choi Ryu. “Ju In Ah – this is my hotel. I hope you are finding it to your liking.”
Lee Gang Min’s smile widened and he nodded. “I am staying here, as it happens. It is the best hotel in all of Singapore.”
In Ah acted appropriately pleased with the compliment although she knew the Ritz was better, no matter what she said in public. In her head, she kept trying to come up with ways to talk to Choi Ryu and ask him all her questions – what had happened to him, why he hadn’t come back, how he was, if his feelings for her had changed …
“I see the dinner is about to begin,” Lee Gang Min said. “May I accompany you to your seat?”
And just like that Choi Ryu had vanished in the crowd and In Ah had no choice but to follow Lee Gang Min to a table. The prospect of dinner didn’t tempt her at all anymore, much less the three hours of dull conversation she was about to have. Lee Gang Min proved very elusive whenever she tried to find out why he employed bodyguards or even where he came from.
*
When the event was over, In Ah was so tired she forgot about Ryu and went up to her room in the topmost floor. Or rather, her feet went there and the rest of her simply followed. She shrugged out of her high heels and reached for the light switch, but before she could reach it a hand closed over her mouth while another kept her in place.
“Shhh, it’s me,” Choi Ryu whispered and In Ah knew she should have known. He never just knocked. She nodded, so he let her go and flipped the switch himself.
In the cold light of the lamps he looked like a fish out of the water. He just stood there and didn’t seem to know what to do, and In Ah had to admit that she didn’t either. In the end, she settled for, “Hi.” What came out of her mouth instead was: “Can’t you knock like a normal person?”
He didn’t even look mildly ashamed of himself, but In Ah didn’t care. She threw her arms around him and hugged him with all her might until tears started to form in her eyes, which brought her back into reality. She let go of him reluctantly and blinked the tears away. He did look embarrassed now. “Do you have any idea what I went through because of you?” she cried with more force than she meant to.
“I’m sorry,” Ryu said earnestly, and In Ah knew he meant it, even though he did not understand in the slightest what he was apologizing for. He was such a frustrating man.
“I couldn’t get anything out of Myeong Wol either and she must know something. After all, two people don’t presumably die in the same car accident and suddenly reappear a year later with one of them knowing absolutely nothing about what happened in between.”
“I asked her not to say anything. It’s better that way.”
“Of course it is,” In Ah replied sarcastically. “Why else would people keep telling me it’s better that I don’t know anything about what my grandfather did, about the business funds or anything else. Want me to tell you something? It’s not better that way, at least not for me.”
All of a sudden, her tiredness returned and In Ah shuffled over to the sofa of the suite. Ryu followed her like a silent shadow and sat down on a chair while In Ah flopped down in a manner that she hoped looked at least a little graceful.
“And why are you working for that man anyway? Who is he?”
“It’s …” Ryu fell silent. “It really is best if I don’t tell you. I can’t tell you either. You should stay away from him, though. He’s a dangerous man.”
In Ah closed her eyes in frustration and didn’t open them again. She didn’t think of staying away from Lee Gang Min for one moment. If she did, Ryu would vanish along with him and she was determined not to let that happen. She heard him move and then felt him put a blanket on her before he left. She would not let him go again that easily, but for now, she was tired. It could wait until morning.
*
The next morning, Ju In Ah felt terrible from sleeping on the sofa, but she hardly noticed. There were more important things on her mind, and her first phone call (well, the second after ordering breakfast and coffee) was to the hotel manager, asking him to check how long Lee Gang Min had booked his room for and which room he had booked.
The answers to her questions arrived before the breakfast. Lee Gang Min had booked a suite on the floor below hers, but only, the manager added somewhat tersely, after he had been assured that there were currently no other occupants on the floor and a hefty sum was paid to ensure it remained so. He intended to stay for a week, or had at least paid for as long, and he liked to have a French breakfast delivered in the morning, which he ate under the watchful eyes of his bodyguards.
In Ah thought for a moment. “Could you send the waiter who generally serves him when he has some free time? And please try to find out what you can about the man.”
The hotel manager bowed slightly. “I already started to make discreet enquiries about him after he insisted to having an entire floor to himself. It seems several of his ships have been used for smuggling. As soon as I know more, I will tell you, Chairman.”
In Ah nodded and breakfast arrived as the manager left her suite. She ate more or less automatically and savoured the coffee while she considered what to do next. Once she had finished eating, she realised that she did not have the patience to wait for the manager’s call, or anything else for that matter, so she decided to take a direct approach.
The waiter was still busy and In Ah had to intercept him between deliveries, which made him fidgety, since his tips depended on it. He didn’t have much to say about Lee Gang Min. He was very security conscious and valued his privacy, but the waiter had served worse and at least his bodyguards were experienced enough to make the whole ordeal relatively painless.
Frustrated and impatient as she was, In Ah took the lift back to her apartment, checked if the manager had left a message and eventually walked downstairs to face the problem head-on. It did not quite work out as expected and instead she walked into one of the bodyguards, who was professional and polite, but very determined in deterring her from her goal.
“Miss, I am afraid you are on the wrong floor,” he explained patiently, as if she was a little girl that had lost her way.
“No, I am not. This is the floor Mister Lee Gang Min is staying on, isn’t it?” In Ah replied.
The man evidently thought what might have led her to that conclusion and it dawned on her that maybe nobody was supposed to know where he was staying, and so she added: “We met last night at the charity function downstairs; I am the owner of this hotel and thought I might come by and see if everything was to his satisfaction.”
The bodyguard still didn’t seem to be convinced. “Mister Lee does not appreciate disturbances …”
“Oh please, it’s not as if I want to keep him from anything important. Why don’t we both go down to his room and you can ask if he would like to see me?”
The man shook his head in resignation and sighed. “I can’t leave my post. But you can ask the guard at the door.” And with these words he finally let her walk past.
The hallway looked gloomy, In Ah thought, which it really shouldn’t, but now was not the time to address that issue. The red carpet muffled her steps and the entire hallway was eerily quiet. Maybe she was just not used to her hotels being this empty. When she passed the corner to Mister Lee’s suite the guard at the door tensed and brought his hand close to where In Ah presumed he kept his weapon, so she put on her best disarming smile and presented her open hands.
“Good morning,” she piped. “I am here to see Mister Lee. We met yesterday evening – I am Ju In Ah – and I thought could come by. The other gentleman said you might help me. Could you go inside and ask if he has time now?”
This one seemed less weary of unsuspecting young women and after a short pause he nodded and knocked on the door. After a muffled reply from the other side, he related her request to whoever was listening. Moments later steps approached and the door opened to reveal a smiling Lee Gang Min.
“Good morning, Miss In Ah,” he said, smiling. “I’m sorry for all the trouble; would you like to come in? I am still having breakfast.”
In Ah smiled. “Of course, but I really only wanted to see if there was anything I could do to make your stay more comfortable. This is my hotel, after all, and it is the least I can do after you spent all your time with me yesterday.”
Lee nodded enthusiastically. “Oh, really, you mustn’t. Spending an evening with such a pleasant young lady is far from a chore. And I really meant it when I said that this is the best hotel in the city. The only thing that could improve my stay here is your company.”
In Ah lowered her head and pretended to be quite pleased with the compliment. “Thank you.”
“Why, would you like to have dinner with me today?” he asked, and In Ah nodded. “Good, I think it would be best if we ate in my suite – nothing against the restaurant, but this feels more private – one of my bodyguards will pick you up at eight.”
“Oh, that isn’t necessary. I’m staying on the floor above yours.”
“I insist. Choi!” he cried into the depths of the suite. A moment later Choi Ryu materialised behind him with a serious look on his face that betrayed nothing of what he thought. “Would you bring Miss In Ah back to her room?”
Ryu nodded and walked out of the suite, stopping a few steps behind her to wait for her to follow.
“Tonight it is, then,” Lee Gang Min confirmed. In Ah bowed slightly while he closed the door.
Fin