Yun JiHo climbed back into the sedan after seeing his superior to his door. He straightened his suit and slipped on his seatbelt as Nari watched from the front seat. He smiled and gave her a nod of his head as he obeyed her rule.
"I put the address you gave me into my GPS, Yun JiHo-shi," she told him before pulling away. "The shortest route is currently backed up due to a traffic accident."
He looked at her navigation screen as she pointed to it. There were caution symbols and other optional routes in green and blue.
"This one seems fastest, though it will add ten minutes," she said as she pointed to the blue highlighted detour.
"I'm in no rush," he replied, settling back into his seat. "I'll leave the driving to you."
She smiled and gave him a nod as she drove toward the road.
Nothing was said between them for several moments as she maneuvered the lanes on her way toward the turnoff to the new route. She paid close attention to the road rather than looking back at him -- a feat more easily said than done.
He watched her as she drove. She was comfortable with it. She only used one hand on the steering wheel as the other rested on the leather-bound stick shift that didn't need such attention. The car was an automatic. By her mannerisms, he assumed she learned to drive on a manual. This was muscle memory and she embraced it like a seasoned driver.
"May I?" he finally said.
She glanced back to see him pointing toward the touch screen media unit in front of him. He had taken the seat that had been the CEO's, so she could see him better.
"Of course, Yun JiHo-shi," she replied.
He began browsing music choices until he reached a somewhat bluesy - pop playlist. He settled on a singer she liked more than most. The voice was smooth with a moody tempo in the tune and deeply thought-provoking lyrics.
"Is this too loud?" he considerately asked.
"Not at all, Yun JiHo-shi," she replied and glanced back at him when he softly chuckled.
"Call me JiHo, please," he told her, inviting her to drop formalities and honorifics.
"As you wish, JiHo," she answered with a smile.
"May I ask about your name?" he continued.
The CEO wanted him to ask questions. He thought at first it may be for personal reasons, but given his position in the firm, he wondered if this was an informal investigation. He would do as told and find out all he could about her. For the CEO, of course.
"Nari?" she asked. "Or do you want my surname?"
"Both is fine," he replied. "I'm interested in how you came to have a Korean name, to be honest."
She glanced back and saw him staring at her through the mirror. His legs were somewhat crossed in sort of a male fashion. He held his hands together with interlacing fingers and had rested them casually in his lap.
It was nothing new to her, not the question or the stature of the passenger. It was different with him, though. He made her nervous. She didn't fear what she assumed was a friendly interrogation. It was her reaction to him. The more he spoke with her, the shyer she felt herself become.
Why was she behaving this way? It wasn't his looks, though he was a pleasant change to her majority older passengers. Those weren't as important to her as what was inside. What was inside, though, was still a mystery to her. It didn't explain her feelings, either. She'd had too much in her life to sort through without adding a man to it, so it had been easy to not be swayed. What was so different about him?
"If it's too personal a question..." he continued when she hesitated.
"It isn't too personal," she replied with a smile. "The meaning is the name on my birth certificate," she began. "My parents named me Lily. Our last name was Sutherland. My father worked in commerce and my mother was a florist, hence my name," she softly laughed.
She looked back and saw him give her a small smile before she went on. "Dad's best friend for as long as I can remember was Uncle Ji-U -- Ahn Ji-U. He was from S. Korea and had transferred to the company my dad was a partner in before I was born. They became so close, my parents named him my godfather. They were Catholic.
I'm not, by the way," she added with a glance back to see if he still cared to know. He was still watching her with greater interest than she expected. "I'm spiritual, I guess. I believe in things above what we don't really understand, but I don't like religions.
Anyway," she sighed, hoping she hadn't just offended him, "I started calling him Uncle Ji-U from the time I learned to talk. He would call me Nari.
After my parents' accident, he took me in. He was already planning to move back to S. Korea when it all happened, so he brought me with him. He changed my name to Ahn Nari in hopes it would help me fit in. As long as people saw the name on a school application or job resume, they would take a serious look at who I was beyond my foreign heritage.
It helped a little. When I showed up for enrollment or later, interviews, most would forget how impressed they were with what was on paper and only cared about the brown hair, blue eyes, and freckles.
I have those, by the way," she laughed again, and this time, he smiled a genuine smile. "I've fallen in love with the make-up here, so they aren't very noticeable.
So that's the story of my name. I'm sorry if it was too much. I probably could have summed it all by saying my dad's friend liked it." She smiled and looked back at him.
JiHo smiled at her again and shook his head. "It wasn't too much. I'm impressed how you've done so well here on your own. Mr. Yoo said your uncle passed on about three years ago. I'm sorry about that. It's unfortunate you've had to endure the intolerance on top of mourning for your loved ones.
I hope you can forgive another question, but how did they die?"
"My parents were in a boating accident," she answered. She turned onto the road the GPS system alerted would take her to his home. "Uncle Ji-U had a clot on his brain that couldn't be safely removed. He had the best surgeon in the country, but it was too massive and ruptured during the operation.
It was Yoo SangHoon who flew in the surgeon and paid for everything. He knew Uncle Ji-U. I'm not sure how but it was through something pertaining to his business."
"Did Mr. Yoo know your parents?" he wondered, becoming intrigued by the connections.
"I don't think so," she replied. "He and Uncle Ji-U only spoke of my welfare, never my parents unless it pertained to their death day or birthdays that I liked celebrating every year.
After I decided on driving for hire as my profession since being self-employed seemed to be my only option for work, Yoo SangHoon helped pay for a nice, luxury car. They both wanted me to have something reliable and safe.
Yoo SangHoon didn't like the idea of a young woman driving around strange men. He was against the whole thing at first. He knew I had to make a living, though, and how difficult it had been for someone like me.
It isn't only my ancestry. I have social anxiety. I can't be in large crowds or work in a place with a lot of people.
In exchange for the car, he insisted I have only certain clientele. He would pass along my information to colleagues he could trust, making me an exclusive driver for high profile professionals who wouldn't cross the line.
After Uncle Ji-U passed, Yoo SangHoon helped me with the legal documents and inheritance from Uncle and my parents. It was all still sitting in the bank and stocks and bonds I didn't understand.
I bought this car with some of that money last year. Yoo SangHoon came with me to pick it out. I think he was more excited than me looking through the showroom," she laughed.
"It's a nice car," he remarked appreciatively. "I prefer sporty sedans," he told her, "but that wouldn't be appropriate for what you do."
"I'm sure it wouldn't," she agreed, "although Uncle taught me quite a bit about sports cars and I do love driving them.
I believe we're here," she told him as she neared a nice high-rise apartment building.
"Yes, this is it," he replied. "You can pull up to the front there."
She nodded and followed the curve of the drive until she reached a covered port for picking up and letting off passengers. She put the car in park and started to unbuckle her seatbelt.
"No need," he told her with his hand up to stop her. "You don't have to hold my door for me."
He was uncomfortable with a woman showing manners he, as a gentleman, should be showing her. Any woman. Not only her, of course.
"Also," he continued as almost an afterthought, and he turned away from climbing out, "if I meet with Mr. Yoo's approval, can I hire you as a daily driver? It would be in the morning and in the afternoon, Monday through Friday. Maybe on the weekends if I have work to catch up on at the office."
She smiled and reached into her center console. He watched her reach in for something and then shut the lid as she handed him a plastic card. It was black with silver filigree and silver writing. At a top corner was a softly colored pink lily. He took it as she explained.
"This is the web address for my business," she said. "Beneath is a guest password. Once you're in, you'll see my schedule and can request appointments. There are no names listed and no private information. This is just security so random browsers can't make unwanted appointments or follow me for any ill intentions. It was Yoo SangHoon's idea.
Also, you've already been approved by him."
She softly laughed when he looked at her in question.
"Mr. Yoo rarely brings guests on his rides," she explained. "On the occasions he does, it's usually to introduce me to a passenger in need of an exclusive driver. I know by how he introduces us.
If he says nothing and treats the ride as his personal business, I know it's simply a necessity that he had to bring someone along. In cases such as yours, when he introduced us and spoke of me to you, it was to let me know he trusted you and it was okay to accept you as a passenger if I'm able."
JiHo stared blankly for a moment at the revelation this ride was an audition for her benefit. While he thought he was supposed to be investigating her, she was using the time to decide if he would be worthy of her services. He didn't know whether to laugh at the absurdity or be angry at the audacity.
"Please, forgive me if I have offended you," she told him as his expression began to harden. She turned more in her seat to face him directly. "If it weren't for Yoo SangHoon's help, I wouldn't have this job. Imagine the dangers I would be in if someone like him wasn't screening my clients. In this way, I have been able to support myself and be safe while doing it.
Apparently, you were looking for a private driver; otherwise, he wouldn't have introduced us. And apparently, he thinks highly of you to have done so. If this has made you uncomfortable, you don't have to accept me. I'm sure he can find someone else for you.
Again, I am deeply sorry if you've been insulted in any way."
He had calmed as she spoke. The arrangement between her and Yoo SangHoon made perfect sense. It, also, gave him another glimpse at just how closely they were to each other. Why? It couldn't have been a simple matter of being friends with her godfather. The CEO was going to great lengths to care for her.
He felt regretful as she looked at him in worry she had done something wrong. He looked carefully and could have sworn he saw a glimmer of a tear at the corner of her eye. He quickly shook his head and pulled out his wallet.
"I'm not insulted," he admitted as he slipped her business card into a sleeve of his grey leather case. "I understand this method to find passengers. It's clever and reliable. Mr. Yoo is an excellent judge of character. For him to do so much for you is a testament to how he feels about you. I'm honored to have met you, Nari."
She sighed inwardly as the tension in her shoulders relaxed.
"I'm honored to have met you, as well, JiHo," she said with a warm smile. "I look forward to seeing you again."
He smiled and nodded, then stepped out onto the curb. He shut the door and bowed low as she waved goodbye and drove off. As he walked into the building with an obvious bounce to his step, he wondered if she was as eager to check her appointment requests as he was to make them.
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