Chapter 55: I'll Support You

  "So, I'm your girl. Huh?"

Jesse stared wide-eyed at the beautiful girl unable to respond. "Uh, I uh...No!..I mean, Yes! No. Well, not that I don't want you to be. Just…." Jesse responded incoherently. Miyeon gently placed her hand on the man's shoulder, drawing his attention. 

"Jesse, Jesse. Calm down. Breathe." Miyeon said with a soft chuckle. 

"I was just joshing you." (Miyeon)

"Oh.. aha! You got me," Jesse said with a nervous laugh. In an attempt to hide his awkwardness, Jesse began to busy himself with preparing the ingredients for their meal.

"Your mom probably loves to match you up huh?" Miyeon asked as she took a seat by the kitchen counter. 

"Yeah! She does that a lot. She thinks I've been single for too long," he muttered with a frown on his handsome face as he began cooking the meal.

"Pfft. This is a first. Don't moms usually want their sons to stay single for as long as possible?" Miyeon wondered out loud. 

"Not my mom," he said with his back towards the girl.

"Is that why you panicked when she started calling me your girl?" Miyeon asked and her face brightened as if she just had an 'aha moment.'

"Uhmmm" (Jesse)

"You thought she would be planning our future wedding or something?" she asked with sudden interest.

"Ahhh.." Unsure how to respond without giving himself away, Jesse merely umm'ed and ahh'ed hoping Miyeon would lose interest in the topic.

"But then again at your age… it's still pretty early to settle down, no? I would think you are one of the top eligible bachelors in Y City," she continued.

"You think so? It's not that I don't want to date. I have someone in mind," Jesse perked up as he spoke. 'It's you.'

"Right! The girl you like! You mentioned it before. So that's why! You didn't want me to misunderstand huh?" Miyeon inquired, feeling as if she's on a roll. 'My hunches are all spot on today!' she thought happily.

"No! It's not that at all!" Jesse turned to face her and quickly refuted.

"Mhmmm," she gave him a knowing smile and a wink.

Realizing that the girl he's been deeply in love with is completely misunderstanding everything, Jesse hastily tried to explain, "Irene. Really it's not that at all. I, I wasn't against my mom suddenly matching you up with me. It's...I, I just don't want her to do something over the top she tends to be quick to take action." 

Looking at the girl's furrowed brows, Jesse knows that he must have confused her more with his explanation. "Uhmm, see IF! IF you were my girlfriend my mom would out of the blue fly over here just to come meet you. She'd go crazy in trying to make you part of the family immediately. She'll spoil you with lavish gifts and take you on trips. She really wants a daughter you see. But she gave birth to all sons."

"Ahh.. I see. She sounds like a fun person," Miyeon said with a cheery smile.

"That doesn't scare you away?" he asked perplexed as he began plating the dish.

"Uh.. no..she sounds a bit like Stella actually. I'm pretty sure that's how she coerced me into being her best friend." Miyeon said ruefully, earning a chuckle from Jesse. 'His family sounds nice. I'm quite envious.'

"Was that how she treated your ex-girlfriends? Were you speaking from experience?" she asked as she helped Jesse bring the plates to the dining table. Their actions were natural as if they had a tacit understanding of each other's dining habits.

"What!? NO! No! That was how she treated my brother's girlfriends," he refuted pouring Miyeon a glass of pinot grigio.

"Hmm but what about yours?" she asked, taking a sip of her wine.

"I..never brought them home," he quietly admitted.

"Why is that?" Miyeon asked, curious.

"Ah...we were never dating long enough for me to bring them home I guess," Jesse explained. 'I never wanted to bring home anyone til I met you.' he added silently.

"Ahh..short relationships.." she said with a half smile. 

As the two casually conversed and prepared to enjoy their meal, a sudden booming voice came from the doorway,  "Oi! Jesse! Mate! You just ran off and left me at the gym! How could you leave without telling me? You better have had something important to do! Christ! I'm your bodyguard not your slave! You even got me carrying your gym bag for you."  "Oh hey! Irene… Baby girl, I didn't know you were here," Rich realized belatedly as he entered the dining room of their apartment.

"Hey Rich...So you're Jesse's bodyguard?" Miyeon tilted her head and flashed a charming smile. 'Today is full of surprises'

Across from her Jesse had a 'wait til I get you alone face' as he fixed his gaze on his very loud mouthed bodyguard.  "...."

"I just recalled. I have a prior engagement," Rich smoothly lied with a charming grin.

"Pfft. Sit, stay! Have you had lunch?" Miyeon beckoned to her friend.

"Well I am famished," Rich admitted.

"..." On the other hand, Jesse glowered openly at him as he took the seat beside Miyeon.

"But uhh I should really get to that prior engagement," Rich spoke up hesitantly.

"It's pasta. Auntie Evans' recipe," Miyeon quipped back as she went up to grab the man a plate.

"Really?! Well ahem If you insist,"he quickly responded.

"..." All the while, Jesse watched this friendly exchange with a sour look on his face.

"Baby girl," Rich called out affectionately.

"Hmm?" Miyeon asked mid-bite.

  "Would you mind. My mate over there has been giving me the stink eye  since I came in."

"Mhmm" Miyeon responded, controlling her smile. 

"So, Jesse, how come you ran out in the middle of your workout?" Miyeon asked.

**cough cough cough**

Unprepared for the sudden turn in the conversation Jesse simply uttered, "Uhm.."

"How come?" she asked again.

"Yeah, mate! How come?" Rich inquired with a smirk, causing him to be elbowed by Jesse.

"Ahh.. just...I didn't feel like working out today," he lied.

"Oh. You have those days as well huh," she casually commented.

"Ye—yeah! But not often though." (Jesse)

"I see. How come you left your bag in the gym?" (Miyeon)

"Oh uh…" (Jesse)

"Yes, do tell! I'd like to know as well," Rich said with raised brows.

"Just…well I knew my bodyguard would bring it back so.." Jesse contered earning another smirk from his friend.

"Ah! So when did this arrangement begin?" (Miyeon)

"Oh me being employed by the Evans Family? Well, the Taylors have long worked as bodyguards and secretaries for the Evans. You're talking about over 10 generations thereabouts. I can't get into the specifics but let's just say the two families have a symbiotic relationship." (Rich)

"Goodness. So many secrets," Miyeon commented with a shake of her head.

"That's high society for you baby girl," Rich responded casually taking a quick swig of her wine glass. 

"No wonder why you two were always together. Before I even thought—-" Miyeon's voice trailed off as she realized belatedly what she almost spoke aloud.

"Thought what?" Jesse asked interestedly. 

"Hmm? Do tell." Rich smiled at her knowingly.

"Nothing," Miyeon said with an innocent expression as she took back her wine glass from Rich.

"It doesn't seem like nothing." (Jesse)

"Come one baby girl. Don't hold out on us now." (Rich)

"Just… Promise you guys don't get mad?" (Miyeon)

"I'll never get mad at you." Jesse solemnly promised while Rich simply nodded in agreement.

"Erm well. You both were always joined at the hip so I assumed you two were in that kind of relationship," Miyeon said with an embarrassed smile.

"HAHAHAHHAH" 

"Put a sock in it, Rich!" Jesse elbowed his friend to stop his loud guffaws.

Then he turned to Miyeon with a look of near hopelessness, "Irene, I'm not gay."

"Alright," she quickly agreed, nodding her head.

"No! Really I'm not gay. I like women," he insisted

"Okay," she said. 

"Argh. I am serious. I like women," Jesse insisted as Rich snickered in the background.

"Hahaha. I know you do. I'm only teasing you. It's so much fun," Miyeon said with a chuckle.

"Haah?!" Jesse asked surprised as he looked back and forth between Miyeon and his friend.

"Don't look at me. I'm not used to seeing this kind of Irene either. Though I gotta say I'm liking what I see. Something good happen baby girl?" Rich asked leaning forward to take a bite of the slice of bread on her plate.

"Mmm. You could say that. I just went for a job interview," she answered, handing him some butter.

"Where was it at?" Jesse asked, chiding himself that he didn't inquire about their day earlier. 'No wonder she was all dressed up like a sexy ceo.'

"At SunFox." (Jesse)

"Oh nice! Once you start work again does that mean no more modeling? Imma miss working with you baby girl." (Rich)

"Probably. You'll be fine. I'm just one fish in your sea of many fishes. Haha," Miyeon said, easily responding to Rich's flirtatious banter.

"Ouch! How could you think that?!" he asked, pretending to look hurt.

"Come on." she said, rolling her eyes.

"No you're a special fish in my sea of fishes," he responded.

"Irene," Jesse called out her name softly.

"Hmm? Yeah Jesse?" she asked, giving her full attention to the man who just made her a delicious lunch.

"I'll support you whatever you choose to do," Jesse said to her so seriously that Miyeon found it hard to speak so she could only smile back and nod. 'It's days like this that make me feel like I made the right decision to come back to C Country after all.' she thought with a beautiful smile on her face.