Postcards From Africa

16

Tae felt she might as well be naked when she walked in on Choi Hyun's arm, Choi dressed in a beautiful slim fit tux that went perfectly with her black dress.

Stares and audible gasps followed them as they made their way towards Choi's designated seat. Tae had nowhere to sit because nobody had been expecting Choi to bring a date.

His colleagues stared wide eyed and quietly at the two as Choi grabbed an empty chair and placed it besides his. Tae smiled gratefully and sat down, ignoring the stares and whispers the men and women sent her way. The man seated beside her shifted his chair slightly away from her. She ignored him.

As she looked around with a straight intimidating face, she realised that she was the only black person in the room. It was mostly Koreans and a countable few white people, all dressed to the nines.

Hmm...

She watched the MC take the stage, unafraid of anything or anyone. Under the table, Choi held her hand and she could not help but send a smile his way before turning back to the MC who was speaking Korean.

The MC looked at her and made a joke about Tae thinking she wouldn't understand and for a moment, she contemplated doing the Will Smith but she just laughed to herself as people looked at her and laughed.

Choi was horrified, beside her, his eyes wide. The MC had just said something very horrible. He had indirectly called Tae the N word and loose.

Tae looked up at the MC and retorted. "Just like your mother,"  she sassily said back in Korean.

The mic fell out of the MC's hand and everybody turned to Tae in shock.

She smiled, looking playful. "It's a joke, just like the one you made, ahjussi (uncle)," she said innocently.

Some of the people nervously laughed as the shocked MC picked up his mic and quickly declared the time for food before flying off the stage, almost tripping in his daze.

Choi stared at Tae. "Sometimes I forget that you can understand everything. I wasn't going to translate what he said for you even if you begged me."

Tae grinned, digging into the food the waiter just brought to their table. "I am glad i learned the language. To teach assholes like Mr MC a lesson."

Choi nodded and turned to his food, smiling to himself. After Tae's retort, the night went by without much of a glitch, just whispers. Tae kept a straight face in case a bitch wanted to try her like the MC. Nobody, except the extremely curious or brave ones approached her.

She talked nicely to those who talked nicely to her and she was rude to the ones that were rude to her. Basically, she returned the same energy people presented themselves with. Some even called her the angry black woman because they were rude and she increased her rudeness to them.

She was petty like that. And she wasnt ashamed. However, she was careful with Choi's colleagues so as not to embarrass him.

By the end of the night, everything had gone 20% bad but the 80% was the highlight because after she had told a particularly nasty man off, no one bothered her. She had a blast dancing with Choi and engaging with some of his colleagues who were completely entranced by her ability to speak fluent Korean.

The night was young. And so was Tae.

Choi was a very happy man.

.

"You want some ice cream?" Choi asked, not wanting to take Tae home. He was not sure if he would be able to see her for personal reasons now that her father was home. He wanted to make the most of this night.

He turned the car into the drive thru of a McDonald's and got him and Tae some food before driving off.

Tae sat with her feet on the dashboard, eating her heart out. She looked at him as he drove. "Take me to your place," she said. Then she posed. "And draw me like one of your french girls, Jack."

Choi frowned and Tae rolled her eyes.

"Titanic," she said.

"The ship?" Choi asked.

Tae groaned. "You haven't seen the movie? Wow. At least now I know what we are watching when we get to your place. I'm spending the night."

"I didn't invite you," Choi said with a smug smile.

"I know. But I'm still going with you to your place either way. I don't know when I'll next see you anyway so we might as well enjoy this night."

"I had other plans for us but you want to watch Titanic."

"What other plans?"

Choi smirked as he opened the gate to his apartment building and pulled into his parking spot. He grabbed the food bags and then headed up followed by Tae.

As soon as she stepped into his apartment, she immediately took off her shoes and rushed to the bathroom, wanting to take a quick shower before settling down.

When she was done, she walked out of the bathroom, as naked as the day she was born and walked over to Choi who was plating the food for them.

He immediately stopped what he was doing and turned to her, his eyes stuck at the V between her legs. He took a sharp breath and looked up at her.

"Is this what you had planned?" she asked, her hand on her waist.

Choi kissed her and just as he grabbed her to pull her close, his doorbell rang. Groaning, he broke away from Tae and walked over to hear who was at his place this late.

When he came back, he cleared his throat. "Um...my mother is here. Go and get dressed. My pyjamas are in the closet-"

"Shouldn't I put my dress on? Your mother will be suspicious about what is going on between-"

"She's definitely going to suspect something," Choi said. "So it doesn't matter what you wear...she knows me too well."

Tae nodded and went to put on some of Choi's pyjamas while he waited for his mother to come to the door. She heard Choi and Suzy laughing a few minutes later and she contemplated staying in the bedroom to hide.

"You had or have a woman in here," Suzy suddenly said with suspicion. "I can smell perfume. And somehow it's familiar."

"It's just Tae," Choi said.

Tae stepped out and greeted Suzy who stared at her with a frown.

"Why is she in your clothes?" Suzy asked.

Tae stared at Choi, waiting for him to explain.

"We come from an event and her dress kind of got messed up so I just brought her here to change and I'm going to take her home later-"

"You never let anyone wear your clothes, Choi-"

"Eomma (mother)!" Choi chastised his mother.

"What is going on?" Suzy asked.

Tae felt like a child that was about to get scolded. She stared at the floor because Choi was stuck. He didn't know what to say.

"You're using condoms, right?" Suzy suddenly said, looking from Choi to Tae then back to Tae.

Tae wished the ground would open up and swallow her. Suzy stared at her. "You're using condoms, right Tae?"

"Ms Suzy..." Tae looked at the older woman. "There's nothing going on between us," she lied with a straight face.

Choi vigorously nodded. He didn't want his mother to know what was going on. Because she was going to get on his case until his ears became painful.

He knew that even though she liked Tae, she would never approve of her as her daughter in law. Suzy wanted Korean grandkids. And that was exactly what Choi was going to give her once Tae left.

There was no use letting her in on what was going on between him and Tae at this point.