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“Because you’ve already shown you give a shit,” I say.
“Well, so have you. Just with a lot more profanity,” she says, but her smile spreads across her face, and I don’t know how serious she is about the rebuke, but I don’t take it personally. Though I do make a mental note to try and cut back on the swearing.
Jesus, I usually don’t give a shit—erm, a shoot?—about what anyone thinks. But, if I’m gonna convince Jessica, and if I’m gonna make this switching thing work, I gotta focus and try to care, or at least pretend to.
“What are we gonna tell the other interns? What are we gonna tell Mrs. Choi, the housekeeper?” Jessica asks.
“Why do we have to tell them anything?” I ask back.
“Um, because when we move into our correct apartments, trust me, someone’s gonna notice I’m not...you.”
“What are you talking about? Why would we move? Do you not like the house?”
“Are you kidding me? I love the house, every single thing about it. All the marble, oh my god. And the detail in the woodworking. The arches.” She clasps her hands in front of her and lifts her shoulders as if she’s Cinderella getting magically ready for the ball. I push the plate of lasagna closer in front of her and she puts her fork in and takes a bite. “And the artwork. Not to mention the state-of-the-art kitchen and whatever else smart home features it has. And then there’s Mrs. Choi, who apparently is there to take care of my every need. Food, clothes, laundry...”
She looks down as if just noticing that she’s been eating the lasagna. “This is incredible,” she says, glancing up at me, eyes filled with wonder.
“The lasagna or the house?” I tease.
“Well, both are pretty amazing.”
“Okay then, they’re both yours. Knock yourself out. You and Mrs. Choi can be besties. And you and Sunny Cho too. And you can enjoy having everyone in the company kiss your ass all day long.”
“And you...?”
“And I will punch in and out, do the work, not have any expectations put on me, be around people my own age, and explore the city. A dream come true.” And I mean it. A dream I didn’t know I had, but one I’m kinda excited to live out. “Jessica, take advantage of the opportunity, learn from it, make a name for yourself, impress the shit, um, socks off of them. And then, at the end, if we have to, we’ll come up with an excuse as to how it happened. I’ll say I forced you, blackmailed you, or something. Or we can even play dumb and say we never even knew, didn’t even realize the mistake.”
“No one’s gonna believe that,” Jessica says with an eye roll.
“People will believe anything that makes young people look foolish. It’s their default to believe that we aren’t capable.”
I can see the wheels in her head spinning. And she keeps nodding, faster with every argument I give her. She’s caving.
“And as I said, we’ll do it together. When I report to my dad, you can tell me the things that you’re learning every day...”
“...and when I report to my dad, you can tell me the things that you’re learning every day...”
“Exactly. Foolproof.”
It’s too tempting an opportunity for her to walk away from. She sees it as clearly as I do...she’s never going to get a chance for this level of exposure again, around executives of a huge and successful corporation.
And this will be my one and only chance to have a free summer. Because at the end of all this, we will likely need to come clean. And I will take the blame completely, as I promised her. Once that happens, my dad will put me on lockdown and control every step of the rest of my life. And he won’t let me forget about my family responsibilities for one second.
So I gotta make this summer worth it.
“Whattaya say? Are you in? You ready to step into the role as the newest executive trainee for Haneul Corporation?” I ask her.
She bites down on her lower lip, gnawing, thinking, considering.
My eyes are focused on her mouth, my breath held waiting for an answer.
“Okay, I’m in. Let’s do it,” she says, eyes wide as if she’s surprised even herself with her answer. “Oh my god, I can’t believe I just said that.” She covers her face with her hands. But the corners of her smile peek through. Maybe Jessica Lee isn’t as big of a prude as I made her out to be. Looks like there’s a risk-taker in there somewhere.
“And you’re sure about the house? I’m totally willing to part ways with that element of the agreement,” she says.
“Yeah, the hope in your eyes that you’ll get to stay there says different,” I laugh. “And the shithole on the Lower East Side is part of what I’m looking forward to this summer. Weird, I know. But it’s true. Oh, but I probably should grab some clean clothes out of the closet, though. I didn’t bring anything else with me.”
“Um, okay, well here’s the thing. They kinda came and took them all away the moment they thought they’d made a mistake. Apparently, I’ve got a new wardrobe waiting for me when I get home.” I hear her trying to hide the squeal in her voice.
