“Julia? Hi, I’m so sorry for all the waiting. I never introduced myself. I’m Young, Young Kim.”
Julia narrowed her eyes as the man reached out his hand in greeting. His English was perfect, without even a hint of a Korean accent. But onstage...
Young broke out in a huge smile. “Busted,” he said and laughed. “I’ll explain everything. Let’s get out of here and go get a drink. Do you mind if I meet you at the bar? I don’t think we can be seen leaving together.”
Julia looked around a basically empty room. Not sure who he was worried about, but she took his word for it and agreed to meet him there. She preferred this anyways, and having her car for a quick getaway if needed. She reminded herself to limit herself to one glass of wine just in case.
“Sure, meet you there.”
“Can we get your most discreet booth,” Young asked the hostess, leaning in to whisper in her ear. She leaned back andgave him a confused look, but just shrugged it off and led them to a booth near the kitchen doors.
Julia felt he was going a little overboard, especially considering this was Los Angeles and there were people a lot more famous than Mr. Trot. But she didn’t say anything. Maybe she really was reformed after all. BeforeTae’sGuide to Dating, she would have most definitely roasted this dude.
What a waste, though. She had a whole list of K-pop songs she was going to reference during their date.
“Did you enjoy the show? Wasn’t it incredible?”
Julia nodded. She opened her mouth to say something kind but took a second too long to figure out what that could be.
“The girls were going wild,” Young said, amazed.
Girlswasn’t quite the word she’d use to describe the middle-aged women in the audience.
“I was worried during the meet and greet whether we had enough security.”
“Um...”
“When you tripped and the water spilled, I thought it might be a sasaeng. But thankfully, it was someone harmless.” He let out a fake laugh.
“Sasaeng?”
“Oh yes, a sasaeng is a fan who is a little too into me, if you know what I mean. I don’t think they’re dangerous, but they are borderline obsessed. I haven’t seen them yet. But I know they’re there, obsessing over me.”
Young continued to talk about the show, the fans, himself.
Julia continued to drink her wine and then ordered another glass.
“My voice was on point tonight.”
Sip.
“I knew the fans in California would love the hip thrusts we added to the choreography.”
Sip.
“Trot’s popularity is really unmatched. We might pass BTS one day.”
Yes, BTS! Finally, something Julia could talk about. But honestly, by this point, she couldn’t be bothered to even try to engage.
Sip.
Sip.
Sip.
He didn’t ask one question about her, except if she enjoyed the show. She tried to temper her expression and be careful with her words. Wine lowered her inhibitions, and she didn’t want to see the fallout of Mr. Trot breaking into tears.
“It was my first time listening to trot.” The truth. No lies told.
