China's POV
My mother picks up, "China dear what did she say?" I could hear the nerves in her voice.
"Ma- I got it! I got the approval to do the interview!"
I scream through the receiver still jumping up and down. I could hear my mom yelling, telling whoever was in the restaurant the amazing news, and then she turned her attention to me.
"Oh, China dear, I knew you could do it! Always had so much faith in you baby girl and look God is just opening up doors for you!"
I smiled listening to my mom, a devoted Christian prays every day, reads her bible and believes with all her heart that God will guide me and my elder brother and I never understood most of it till I got older.
"I know Ma- God is good," I say softly as she agrees with an Amen.
"Oh, your brother just walked in, can't wait to tell him the good news see you later tonight dear, we are going to celebrate!"
I laugh as mom hangs up, she liked nothing more the having friends and family over and preparing lots of food and will use any occasion as a reason for a family get together. Smiling filled with excitement I regain focus and turn to my computer to get Jiyong's managers number up taking a deep breath. This was honestly the part I hated most, I mean coming up with interview questions and creating angles for stories was not difficult. The hard part was talking to the managers and setting up interviews convincing them why it would be of interest to take part in the interview.
I had my notepad open with a pen in hand as the dial tone rings in my ear and male voice answers.
"Hello? This is Kim Jun Lee speaking how may I help you?"
"Good Afternoon Mr. Kim, this China Parks speaking a Journalist from CG Magazine-"
"If you are calling regarding a scoop on Jiyong...then I'm afraid you contacted the wrong number..." he answered in an annoyed tone.
"No Mr. Kim please wait that is not the reason for my call. I am calling to request an interview with Mr. Jiyong for our magazine, I want to provide him with a platform to tell his story no catch just a one on one interview."
"Hmm, an interview you say, well whatever information you need I'm sure other journalists in the past have asked similar questions."
"That's just it, all the questions have been around past and present promotions regarding his solo career and group activates but not one journalist has sat down to get to know who the real Jiyong is." I could feel my heart picking up speed as I spoke.
"The Real Jiyong?-he lets out a warm chuckle- well I have never, heard a journalist talk over the phone with such conviction...China Parks correct?"
"Yes, Sir that's correct." I tried so hard to hide the tremble in my voice.
"You are passionate and that passion has just convinced me, I will let Jiyong know about the interview and he will get back to you on whether he is interested. Does that work for you?"
"Yes, Sir that would be great and thank you so much for your time" I end the call after we exchanged goodbyes and sit back in my chair smiling. These type of calls still get me nervous because one wrong word even the slightest hesitation and you could really put the manager off and lose the opportunity. What makes such calls even more stressing is when you are dealing with international celebrities from non-English speaking countries, which means that your communication must be more on point and pronunciation had to be 95% of the time correct. Having a degree in Foreign Languages where I majored in Korean and had French and Japanese as my sub-majors made this easier for me, but it was still nerve wrecking.
Setting my phone on loud I finish up the last bits of work I had left and started packing up as the time was 17:49 hours. Heading downstairs to the parking lot I climb into my car and drive home turning on the radio to listen to some classical music. I am not the type to listen to the doom and gloom of news reports on the drive home after a busy day at work I reserve that for the morning when I read the morning paper during breakfast. After a long 45-minute drive I pull up at my mother's restaurant and walk inside.
"There she is! The girl of the hour! Congrats baby girl." My brother greets me giving me a hug as I walk in.
"Thanks, Jonathan... where is a mom?" I smile as we walk side by side.
"You know, in the kitchen cooking up one tasty storm of a meal." He laughs warmly.
I love my big brother he was one of the best Photographers I know –and I am not being biased just because he's my brother. Forbes Weekly magazine named him 3rd Best Fashion Photographer in South Australia- our mom walks through the kitchen doors and smiles as she sees me.
"Oh, I thought I heard you dear." she hugs me tightly as I take in the sweet smell of lavender and buttermilk.
"Mama it's so good to see you... hmm, something smells good what are you making?"
"You'll see at dinner time, you and your brother just get the tables ready."
"Tables?" we both ask at the same time.
"Yes. Why are you acting so surprised? I did tell you that we were celebrating." My mom says with the smile on her face.
Jonathan and I burst out in a slight break of laughter and start getting the tables in the restaurant ready.
Jonathan looks at me "Hang on, how many tables are we setting up? I shrug my shoulders not knowing.
"Mom, how many tables are we setting up?" yells Jonathan.
"Oh only four Jonathan dear, it is just a small family gathering after all." She explains as her voice goes from high to low as she's standing outside the kitchen door.
"Hey, Mama who is coming for this family gathering slash celebration?" I ask looking over at Jonathan waiting for the long list of names.
YOU ARE READING
The Real Jiyong
RandomA journalist digs deep into the person that is Ji-yong, with a in-depth interview. But things become personal as the star opens up about the trials and tribulations he has faced over the years and this one on one interview soon becomes a two way dia...
