Our Story - Binjin

Chapter 24: First Real Date (Part 2)

Small Farming Town

Their day flew by and they had a wonderful time. On their way back to Seoul, they stopped by a small farming town for an early dinner.

They chanced upon a local farmer's market. Hyun Bin smiled widely as he saw Ye-Jin's excitement. She flitted from one store to another, chatting with the owners about their products. They were at a local bakery store and Ye-Jin was selecting pastries when the owner, a granny probably in her seventies, came out and said, "You and your husband make such a nice couple, you are both so pretty. Do you have children? You must have lots of children, they will be so beautiful!" Ye-Jin blushed a gorgeous shade of pink and tried to explain to the granny.

Hyun Bin cut in and said, "Oh yes Granny, I've been trying to convince her we should have enough children to form a football team, but she keeps rejecting me. You tell her, Granny." He felt like laughing when he felt Ye-Jin glaring hard at him.

"Missy, you should listen to your husband on this," Granny took Hyun Bin seriously and started to counsel Ye-Jin. "Plus, he's so good-looking and looks strong, he should be very capable in the bedroom."

Hyun Bin wasn't expecting that and his ears also turned a little red. Ye-Jin's face was now a bright red. They quickly wrapped up their purchase and said goodbye to the granny.

Ye-Jin gave him a hit in the arm, "This is your fault. Granny really believed you!" and walked ahead.

Hyun Bin was laughing like a maniac now that they were out of the shop. He chased after her, "I'm sorry, I'll treat you to the best beef bone soup to apologize for teasing you."

"Dong Wan swears this is the best beef bone soup in the country," Hyun Bin said, as they walked into a family restaurant. It was a small establishment, it reminded them of their childhood. "Two beef bone soup, please Ahjumma," Hyun Bin called out.

"How long have you been with MS Team, Ye-Jin?" Hyun Bin asked as they're waiting for their food.

"You probably won't believe me," she smiled. "Since my debut. I've never switched agencies. Ms Lee was the one who brought me into the industry when I was 18 years old. She was the talent director back then. She has always taken good care of me. You know as well, it's not easy for a new face in our industry, there are so many dark stories. But they have never once made me do anything I was uncomfortable with. If anything, they were very protective of me. They believed in me and gave me a lot of freedom when it came to projects. I never had any incentive to switch agency because I trust them. I've worked with Kim Oppa for about 15 years. It shows how resistant I am to change right?"

Hyun Bin thought about it, "I don't think its resistance to change. I think it's a result of how sincerely you value relationships. I've observed how close your team seemed to be when we were filming. It feels like a family. I think you've built up loyalty to each other."

"How about you? Why did you choose to set up Vast?" Ye-Jin asked.

Hyun Bin thought for a while, "I've also been fairly lucky that I've had people who were helping me throughout my career. I've had a couple of slumps but overcame them relatively quickly. Even with Vast, I'm partnering with my long time mentor Kang Kun Taek shi, so I'm not really going out on my own. The main reason was I wanted to be in control of what I want to do and how I live my life. There had been occasions when I had to do things which I did not feel were right because of obligations. I know it's common in our circle, but I don't think it's something I want to accept. My career's more stable the last couple of years and I thought it was the right time. Also, I want to try my hand at nurturing talent. This will be a good opportunity. VAST is coming to our second year soon. We have a couple of pretty talented new faces, I hope to be able to groom them."