[crow]

"... Listen," said Wang Tae-rang, water dripping down his forelock and into his eyes, "I think there's been some kind of misunderstanding."

Set the scene: A high class, top-of-the-line restaurant. Not owned by his family, of course; he wanted this to look believable, and he would never take someone to one of those if he was serious about them. The table was by the window, tastefully arranged. There was a thin little vase with a pair of roses. Two glasses of white wine were set beside the menus, or at least they had been until a minute ago. Both were now overturned, and their contents were currently seeping into his underclothes.

All in all, not an atypical night. Trouble was, his conversation partner was usually... classier. That was maybe putting it mildly.

[crow]

The woman standing in front of him was more like someone the help threw out than the kind of girl who usually upended a drink on him. Dressed in ratty jeans and a profane t-shirt, with her hair done up in what could barely be called a ponytail, she stood there glaring at him from across the table. He eyed her up and down, raising a brow, before he continued. "Not that I'm not flattered, of course, but tonight I was expecting someone more... well, male."

There was an audible gasp from someone behind him. Inwardly, Tae-rang smiled to himself. The audience, at least, had definitely been a part of the plan. What was the point of the set-up if no one was there to see it? And they were certainly making a scene, even if it wasn't quite the one he'd intended to make.

[crow]

She thrust a piece of paper in his face. "Explain yourself," she snarled. He blinked for a moment, taken aback, but as his eyes focused, his features lit up with recognition.

"Ah! Yes, the contract. So. I take it you're a friend of Ji-min's?"

"Ji-tae," the woman snapped back. Tae-rang waved her off. "I'm not here to play games, you skeevy jackass. Just what kind of deal did you make with my baby brother?"

"Oh, nothing serious, just--- Wait, did you just call me skeevy?"

[crow]

She snorted. Snorted. He flinched backward, eyes wide. "Yeah, what else am I going to call the creep that said he would pay my brother to eat dinner with him? Though to be fair, I was expecting someone older." Now Tae-rang found it was his turn to be scrutinized, and he found he rather disliked being on the other end. In fact, he was downright indignant. What right did this classless girl have to look down on him like that?

Leaning back, he crossed his arms. "I assume you have read that?" he said, indicating the contract with a toss of his head. "If you haven't, I suggest that you do. That should answer your question." He wasn't even going to bother replying to her little quip. The idea that he could be desperate enough to pay for--- no, he wasn't even going to entertain that thought.

[crow]

The woman closed in, leaning forward to fix him with a glare. "Listen, asshole, I don't care how you like to waste your own time, but I'm not going to let my brother have anything to do with it." He leaned backwards as she moved forward; evidently she didn't understand the concept of personal space. While she had been an... interesting disruption, he was quickly growing tired of sitting here and listening to her insult him.

"Sure," he said, "you could do that. But I should warn you, that contract is binding, and you would have to pay for breaching the terms."

[crow]

"Not to mention, there was an advance, so... that would have to be refunded too. Plus interest. And while we're at it, how exactly did you get past security? This is a VIP area, you know. Waiter---"

The woman had been setting her jaw as she listened to his litany, but now she lunged forward to snag the hand that he raised. "Fine! You want money, right? How much?" He was none too pleased to find himself being grabbed, but he snatched his hand away and brushed primly at an imaginary speck on his blazer before turning to her with a smile.

"Now we're talking," he said, and retrieved a pen from the breast pocket of his shirt.

[crow]

He scribbled a number down on his napkin and slid it over to her. She snatched it up, scrutinized it for a moment, and he had the satisfaction of watching as her eyes went wide. For a moment, neither of them spoke, and Tae-rang took the opportunity to savor her shock. Then, he said, "Is there a problem? It couldn't be that you can't afford something like this, could it?"

The woman looked as if she wanted to punch him. Not that she could, of course. Besides the obvious ramifications, his face was insured; it would have almost been worth it just to slap another fine onto her, except he doubted he would get enough out of her to cover the costs.

[crow]

"Change your mind, maybe? Well, it's a little too late for that. Your brother was supposed to be here... oh, a half hour ago," he said, glancing at his watch. "So unless he shows up in the next five minutes, you'd better find a way to come up with the money." With that, he left her to stew, and turned his attention to trying to catch the eye  of a server again.

He didn't expect her to plop herself down in the chair opposite him.

"That contract of yours," she said, brusquely pouring herself a glass of wine. "It just specifies a date, right? Well, have your date then." She paused for a minute, considering something, then shrugged and took a swig straight from the bottle instead.

[crow]

Tae-rang was beginning to regret letting her stay here as long as she had. He ought to have just had her thrown out while he had the chance. "The contract doesn't have any provisions about stand-ins," he pointed out.

She finished her swig, put the bottle down, and levelled her gaze at him. "You put him up to this because there's something you need to get out of, didn't you? Let me guess--- blind dates? Arranged marriage? If you just wanted to flirt with boys and have a good time, you wouldn't have gone to the trouble of something like this." She waved the contract at him. Tae-rang frowned. "So whatever it is, you must have gone to a lot of trouble setting it up for today. You could waste it to spite me, or you could suck it up. I'll even play along, as long as it's reasonable."

[crow]

He opened his mouth to make a rebuttal, but none would come. He hated to admit it but... she did have him there. It wouldn't have been the end of the world to let it go to waste, but Tae-rang considered himself a practical sort, at least when it mattered.

He picked up his own wineglass, setting it back up properly on the table. "Very well," he said. "We have ourselves a date, then."

Besides, if it was petty revenge he wanted, there would be plenty of opportunities for that if he had her 'playing along' on his terms.