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A severe case of Monday blues hit her. She had a one-night stand with her older brother’s friend on the very day she received a breakup notice, barely escaping the shock of witnessing her fiancé in bed with another woman.
Did she forget one shock with an even bigger one?
Fortunately, instead of the horrifying scene of Choi Jae-hyung cheating, Ha-young’s mind was filled with Kwon Ji-sung.
Even if it was something she did while drunk, it wasn’t something she could just dismiss as a mistake. She wanted to disappear without a trace.
Her mother, who returned from Jeju Island on Monday dawn, was devastated by Ha-young’s news and collapsed in bed.
Ha-young barely managed to stop her father, who was about to go to Choi Jae-hyung’s workplace and not let him get away with it. Having already witnessed him with another woman, she didn’t want to see her father get into a fight with Choi Jae-hyung and end up at the police station.
Ha-young was the victim, but she felt like she had sinned against her parents.
She was a sinner. It was none other than Song Ha-young who had pushed for the marriage against her parents’ wishes.
And yet, all day long, she kept thinking about Kwon Ji-sung. Even though her own behavior, recalling the night with Kwon Ji-sung after witnessing her fiancé’s shocking act, felt animalistic, she couldn’t control her thoughts no matter how hard she tried.
She had indulged in romantic fantasies like ‘destined first love’ and comforted herself that platonic love was superior to physical desire.
But one night with Ji-sung made her realize it was all an illusion.
Frigid was bullshit.
Just Ji-sung touching her breasts sent shivers of excitement through her, almost making her faint. Just his kiss made Ha-young, who had never learned such things, instinctively sway her hips, moan, and act coquettishly.
It wasn’t that she wanted to prove to herself that there was nothing wrong with her in this way, but her sex with Kwon Ji-sung was definitely unforgettable.
The blissful foreplay alone made her body feel light. Just thinking about that night with Ji-sung made her legs, no, her heart, no, her whole body throb with a pounding pulse. If it was this intense without penetration, what would it be like with it…?
Why was his cock so big? The astonishing size, something she had never even seen in porn, flickered before her eyes. And that wasn’t all. The feeling of her vulva melting just from the touch of his skin still vividly came to mind.
Was this what sex was like?
Thinking it was this electrifying made her realize how empty her relationship with her fiancé had been. She even understood why Choi Jae-hyung had left…
She was crazy. She was crazy. What was she thinking right now?
She was truly irredeemable trash.
A woman who had her eyes opened to sex the day after her engagement was broken off. Ironically, it wasn’t her fiancé but her brother’s friend who had awakened her to the pleasure of the flesh.
Ha-young tore at her hair, blaming her hopeless self. After a hellish weekend, an even more dreadful company awaited Ha-young.
Should she quit her job?
She was an ordinary office worker who said she would quit her job a dozen times a day, but she couldn’t suddenly quit in the face of the cold winds of the job market. The IT department of a financial company whose name every Korean would know paid a little less than other developers, but she wasn’t in a position to be picky.
She had already told her colleagues about her wedding date and taken annual leave in advance to match her honeymoon, so she couldn’t just shut her mouth now without explanation.
She had to explain the whole story, but she had no idea where or how to start. If she got emotional and shed tears while talking, it would be remembered as a black mark on her history forever.
“Ha-young-nim, it looks like you’ve lost weight. You look gaunt after the weekend?”
Kang Se-mi, her colleague sitting next to her, started the day with small talk. Telling Kang Se-mi about her broken engagement was the most unsettling thing.
“Is something wrong? You’ve lost so much weight. If your cheekbones are too sunken, you won’t look good in photos.”
In the early days of their employment, they were the same age and had many similarities, so they became close, feeling a sense of camaraderie. However, their relationship began to sour when Ha-young, who wasn’t an IT major, received an award for excellent employees.
Ha-young, who actually worked harder on self-improvement because she felt inferior as a developer from a non-major background, was the one who did well, but Kang Se-mi would subtly look down on her as if she were freeloading.
She had simply been recognized by her superiors for her efforts in studying coding separately every day after work, without fail, but Kang Se-mi seemed to think she was being treated unfairly compared to Ha-young, who received good performance reviews.
One day, Kang Se-mi started nitpicking every detail of Ha-young’s work methods and giving her unsolicited advice. When Ha-young countered with her skills, Kang Se-mi then shifted to scrutinizing the brand of the bag she carried outside of work, constantly trying to assert her superiority.
It was the same when she announced her wedding. Ha-young had secretly enjoyed Kang Se-mi’s outburst of inferiority at the fact that her fiancé was a stable civil servant.
Remembering Kang Se-mi, who had insisted on seeing her fiancé’s face, badgering her because she wanted to find even one flaw in Ha-young, who tried to draw a line between work and personal life, made Ha-young’s chest feel tight.
She had thought the world would be happy if she just got a job as a developer suited to her aptitude, but once she joined the company, she became exhausted by people issues.
If she told Kang Se-mi, who was full of such malice, that her engagement was broken… Just thinking about it made her head throb. She could already picture Kang Se-mi’s gleeful face as she pretended to comfort Ha-young while leading the charge in spreading distorted rumors.
“Why would you diet when there’s nowhere left to lose?”
“Ah, yes…”
“Eat this.”
Kang Se-mi, who never shared snacks, offered a chocolate pie boasting enormous calories and loaded with trans fats. Seeing her seemingly kind but actually malicious gesture, which was no different from a curse to fail her pre-wedding diet, Ha-young couldn’t bring herself to talk about the broken engagement.
It was a wedding dress she would never wear now, but she didn’t really want the chocolate pie Kang Se-mi was offering either.
“Thank you.”
“Why aren’t you eating it?”
“I’ll eat it later.”
Ha-young pushed the pie to one side of her desk and stared at the monitor. But the tireless Kang Se-mi kept chattering away, oblivious to Ha-young’s feelings.
“But why haven’t you given me a wedding invitation?”
“Ah…”
“Your wedding is less than a month away, are you really just going to hand out invitations without even buying us a meal? We have to have steak. I’ll be upset if you do this to me. If you just take the congratulatory money and don’t treat us to a meal, people will talk behind your back.”
You’re probably the one who’ll be talking behind my back.
Ha-young swallowed hard, barely holding back the words she wanted to say. She had to tell the truth now to avoid further embarrassment, but her pride wouldn’t let her speak.
“Could it be... did you fight with your fiancé?”
Should she kill her, really?
Seeing Assistant Manager Kang Se-mi smile slyly while hitting the nail on the head made heat bubble up inside her.
“I’m right, aren’t I? You two fought, didn’t you? Anyway, Ha-young-ssi, your face isn’t a poker face. Is it marriage blue, or something like that?”
Seeing her sneer and laugh made it seem like she knew something, and it stung.
“Why? Se-mi-ssi seems like someone who really wants me to fight with my fiancé.”
Ha-young preemptively poked at Kang Se-mi’s true intentions, feeling guilty. In the face of the shallow power struggle, Kang Se-mi smirked and tilted her head.
“No, it’s just... the bride-to-be, who should be at her happiest, has such dark circles under her eyes. Don’t be embarrassed. Everyone around me has a big fight with their fiancé before getting married.”
Ha-young, her pride wounded, unknowingly raised her voice.
“Who said we fought?”
She hadn’t even recovered from the shock of betrayal, and she couldn’t endure her colleagues’ invasion of privacy. Her fighting spirit depleted, Ha-young pretended to be busy and stood up from her seat, holding her phone.
“I’m just a bit on edge. Don’t misunderstand.”
“It’s not easy to set a date. I’ve been busy lately.”
Ha-young left the office, sweating at the sudden, fabricated excuse.
Ah, she didn’t know anymore.
She would rather submit her resignation than speak honestly. There was a senior colleague from the same university in the general affairs department. It was only a matter of time before the rumor of Ha-young’s broken engagement spread.
She couldn’t stand the thought of Kang Se-mi secretly gloating over Ha-young’s pain.
As Ha-young, lost and nowhere to go, entered a toilet stall, the phone in her hand vibrated.
[Jae-hyung]
The caller ID on the screen was none other than her fiancé, no, her ex-bastard.
Why was he calling when he clearly knew it was work hours? She wanted to scream all sorts of curses into Choi Jae-hyung’s ear right away, but she didn’t want to add to the rumors at work.
She would have to face Choi Jae-hyung again soon to resolve the issues of canceling the wedding hall reservation and the apartment contract, but her heart wasn’t ready to meet him casually today.
Ha-young turned off her phone and washed her hands in the sink. How should she proceed with the annulment process? She didn’t have the guts to ask Ji-sung to handle it for her.
She would receive about a million won in alimony? The lawyer’s fees would be much higher than that, so she would rather not. No, she wanted to receive the million won and punch that bastard in the eye, using it as compensation. Of course, that was just a fleeting thought in her imagination.
Come to think of it, she remembered Saturday morning when she had fled from Ji-sung without even saying thank you properly, out of embarrassment.
Ji-sung must have felt just as awkward as she did.
Ha-young suddenly tried hard to erase Ji-sung’s face from her mind and stared at the huge boulder weighing on her chest.
***
-The caller is unavailable, so we’re connecting you to voicemail….
Even sitting in his office, he couldn’t focus on work at all. Ji-sung had tried calling Ha-young, but her phone was turned off.
“Haa, what am I supposed to do?”
At first, he was angry. Seeing Ha-young, who had seduced him first and then run away, irritated him at himself for falling for his friend’s sister’s drunken behavior.
Then, he felt regret. After all, it was Ji-sung himself who hadn’t rejected Song Ha-young, who was emotionally vulnerable due to her broken engagement.
What did the young Song Ha-young know? Was he really going to assume she was seducing him just because she had touched his cock? It was just drunken rambling fueled by alcohol.
Her insistence on being touched was shocking, but he didn’t know. Were all young girls these days like that?
One night’s mistake had created a rift in his 24-year friendship with Doo-young, so Ji-sung had nothing to say. Even though there was a seven-year age difference, Song Ha-young was an adult. What was wrong with a man and a woman having consensual sex? But if the other person was Song Doo-young’s sister, the situation was different.
However, since there was no penetration, he couldn’t really call it sex. If he had to explain it in detail, he would call it attempted sex.
Ha, what a lame excuse.
He should have refused Ha-young’s touch no matter what, thinking of his loyalty to Doo-young.
Alcohol was the problem.
Even while replaying last weekend in his mind, his lower body still felt heavy. He had masturbated alone, thinking of Song Ha-young, but his heavy cock felt painfully constricted the more he ejaculated.
Was something wrong with his cock?
Was it because he had only rubbed on the outside and hadn’t gone inside? The blood that should have gone to his head was all rushing to his lower body.
Trying to clear his mind of distracting thoughts, he had called Ha-young today to apologize and properly settle her broken engagement, but her phone was turned off.
He had already told his classmate from the training institute about Ha-young’s situation, but he was in an awkward position since she wasn’t answering her phone.
Song Doo-young, who knew nothing, had been nagging Ji-sung on the phone since early Monday morning to quickly resolve Ha-young’s issue, but Ha-young was avoiding him.
He couldn’t bring himself to tell Doo-young to hire a different lawyer instead of the one Ji-sung had introduced, as he knew Doo-young would be upset.
And he didn’t trust leaving it to a complete stranger. As he had told Ha-young last Friday, even if he could find fault and bother the other party, it wasn’t a case where she could receive significant alimony.
Even if the wedding hall and apartment ownership could be resolved, proving other physical damages was nearly impossible, so the alimony wouldn’t be much even if the other party was a wealthy heir. He could already picture the lawyer just taking a reasonable fee and ignoring Ha-young’s unfair situation.
Tsk.
If Ha-young continued to avoid Ji-sung, he, being busy, could pretend not to know her, but a petty concern shook him.
Still, she was Song Doo-young’s sister…
Rather than seeing Ha-young suffer through the annulment process, Ji-sung thought it would be better for him to step in himself, even if it was awkward. It was also the only way to erase his guilt towards Doo-young.
At the same time, his heart pounded unpleasantly at the thought that Ha-young might waver and decide to marry her fiancé, making the broken engagement null and void. Her avoiding his calls made him uneasy.
Of course, such unpleasant imaginings weren’t because he had other intentions, but because Song Ha-young was his friend’s sister.
…….
Probably. It was probably something like that.
Ji-sung gathered his scattered thoughts and left his office. Since he couldn’t focus on work anyway, he decided to meet Ha-young, bury what had happened that day, and introduce her to his lawyer classmate. He headed to her company.
He knew her company because he had picked up Ha-young and driven her home a few times with Doo-young on their way through Yeouido.
After parking his car and waiting in front of Ha-young’s company building, he thought that he might be seen as a crazy stalker for showing up at her company without a word. He felt uneasy.
While resolving to turn back without hesitation if she showed any discomfort, he saw Ha-young coming out of the building.
Ji-sung, about to call out to Ha-young, momentarily went blank.
It wasn’t the first time he had seen Ha-young in a suit, but he couldn’t take his eyes off her in her white blouse and black pencil skirt.
His heart pounded. The moment he saw Song Ha-young again, an unfamiliar halo surrounded her. His lower body, which he had barely managed to calm down over the weekend, felt heavy again.
The mature appearance of Song Ha-young, so different from how she had acted, clinging to him in her pink microfiber pajamas last weekend, unknowingly brought a smile to his lips. A pleasant spring breeze gently blew.
***
“Ha-young-nim, it seems like her wedding isn’t going well.”
Ha-young, about to leave work, found the elevator crowded and was about to take the emergency stairs when she stiffened at Kang Se-mi’s voice from outside the hallway.
“Why suddenly?”
“I happened to see her SNS, and all her wedding photos are set to private.”
Cold sweat ran down Ha-young’s spine at the fact that Kang Se-mi had been spying on her SNS, which she had never even told her colleagues about. She had deliberately avoided talking about SNS because she didn’t want to get involved privately with her colleagues.
Being in a male-dominated field, the four female colleagues who joined the company at the same time naturally bonded among the sea of men. When the men went for cigarette breaks or third rounds of company dinners, the four women were left behind, so they had no choice but to become close, even if they didn’t want to.
Kang Se-mi was excitedly gossiping about Ha-young to the female colleagues gathered in the restroom.
“Come on, Se-mi-nim. Isn’t it too much to say her wedding isn’t going well just because her SNS photos are private?”
Kang Se-mi got heated at the colleague who defended Ha-young.
“No, I’m telling you! Her complexion isn’t good, and she gets prickly whenever the topic of her wedding comes up.”
Normally, Ha-young’s personality would have been to kick open the door and say something to Kang Se-mi, but today her feet wouldn’t move.
She would have to reveal the broken engagement to everyone soon anyway, and the more upset Ha-young got now, the more Kang Se-mi’s annoying face, gloating later, would come to mind.
Talking about her colleagues like this to other close colleagues. They were truly tiresome people who couldn’t wait to gossip as soon as someone left their seat.
“Well, I did notice her eyes were quite swollen this morning.”
“Yeah, it did seem like they were rushing the wedding too much.”
Ha-young stood rooted to the spot in the hallway until people went down the emergency stairs and she couldn’t hear their conversation anymore. Unable to bring herself to follow the path they had taken, she squeezed herself into the crowded elevator.
She knew well that her colleagues would badmouth anyone who left their seat, but the gossip right after her broken engagement was too much to handle.
Job hunting and all aside, she didn’t want to work at the company anymore. She had even taken annual leave in advance for her honeymoon. Her pride, already deeply wounded, wouldn’t allow her to talk about the broken engagement now.
What remained after the broken engagement wasn’t just idle sadness. It was the messy reality.
Should she really quit?
There were plenty of companies looking for developers, but since she wasn’t a major, job hunting hadn’t been easy. People would definitely talk about her having less than a year of experience. If she hid her lack of experience and got a job, how would she explain the gap after graduation?
Ah, a sigh already escaped her.
No matter how well the work suited her, people were the most important thing in a company. She didn’t want to work with someone as awful as Kang Se-mi for the rest of her life.
Ha-young comforted herself like that and left the elevator. Her head throbbed from the stress she received at work even before she could recover from the shock of the breakup.
As she stepped out of the building with her thoughts shrinking, a familiar face blocked her path.
“Ji-sung oppa…?”
The fact that her one-night stand partner, her brother’s friend, had come to her company made her neck flush as if she had been caught doing something wrong.
The memory of the strange events that had unfolded on Friday night with this neatly suited man flashed through her mind like a slideshow. She couldn’t understand why her heart was pounding so hard. Ha-young awkwardly froze, touching her hot neck.
Even without trying to stand out, Ji-sung was noticeable wherever he went, and standing in front of the building in a perfectly tailored suit, even people from other departments glanced at the two of them.
“How did you get here?”
“Your phone was off.”
“You called me? Why?”
“Why? I said I’d introduce you to a lawyer. The closer the date gets, the more unfavorable the cancellation terms for the wedding hall and the new house will be, so we need to handle it as soon as possible. Doo-young has been nagging me all day about why I’m not prioritizing your case.”
“Ah, that…”
Ji-sung tilted his head as Ha-young hesitated.
“Why? Is there a problem?”
“No, it’s just... what happened between us that day. I was just going to take care of it myself.”
She desperately needed the reliable help of Kwon Ji-sung, but she wasn’t brazen enough to prepare for a lawsuit head-to-head with the man she had a one-night stand with, or almost had one with.
“What are you going to do on your own? Hiring another law firm will just be a waste of fees. There aren’t any lawyers who will properly care about such a small case. You’ll get the most attention if you entrust it to my classmate.”
“I understand what you mean. Thank you for caring. But…”
“But?”
“I’m just embarrassed to see your face. Let’s just go back to how we used to be.”
“‘How we used to be’? What’s that?”
“Like strangers?”
Ji-sung let out a dumbfounded laugh at Ha-young’s words.
“Did I ask you to sleep with me again? You’re overreacting.”
Did this man just say ‘sleep with me’ in front of her sacred workplace?
As expected of a prosecutor in the violent crimes division. Maybe it was because the people he dealt with were either pure gangsters or seasoned detectives, but every word that came out of his mouth felt raw.
Ha-young blinked her widened eyes. But why was her heart beating so fast at those blatant words?
This was really pathetic. Heart, don’t act up.
“That day, because of your broken engagement, I rushed to you from working late without a second thought. And today too.”
At the word ‘broken engagement’ that flowed from Ji-sung’s lips, Ha-young looked around like a meerkat. And just as she had feared, she made eye contact with Kang Se-mi, who was walking out of the lobby.
“Oppa, shh.”
Ji-sung fell silent at Ha-young’s gesture. Kang Se-mi, who had already approached them, began to scan Ji-sung from head to toe. The longer the scan, the more Kang Se-mi’s face contorted with jealousy.
“Ha-young-ssi, are you leaving work? Your fiancé…?”
Her colleagues, who were going to dinner with Kang Se-mi, waited for Ha-young’s answer with curious eyes.
Ji-sung frowned, noticing that Ha-young hadn’t told her colleagues about her broken engagement yet. Ha-young felt embarrassed at Ji-sung’s expression, but the word ‘broken engagement’ still wouldn’t leave her lips.
Kang Se-mi stared intently at Ha-young’s mouth with a nervous look. Kang Se-mi, who kept checking Ji-sung’s face and didn’t hide her jealousy, was suffocatingly annoying.
“Yes… That’s right.”
Ha-young’s face flushed at the answer that had unknowingly slipped out.
She didn’t know. Since she had already decided to submit her resignation, it felt more comfortable to just lie and vaguely brush things off in front of people and then quit the company, rather than saying she had broken off her engagement.
Ji-sung’s eyes wavered, surprised by Ha-young’s answer.
She could clearly see what he must be thinking of her as. A crazy bitch who, after getting dumped, called her brother’s friend and made disgusting demands to be touched. And then lied about washing up in the morning and ran away. And now, she was embarrassing him, who had willingly come all the way to her company to help her with her affairs. On top of that, she had lied about him being her fiancé.
As someone who was good at self-awareness, Ha-young felt even more embarrassed at this moment. But even if she was embarrassed, she couldn’t stand seeing Kang Se-mi become self-important.
Ha-young gave Ji-sung a look, asking him to go along with her lie, and he narrowed his eyes for a moment before nodding.
“Ah…”
Kang Se-mi’s face quickly turned sour at Ha-young’s answer. Especially Ji-sung’s handsome appearance, reminiscent of an actor, seemed to have made her mood even worse.
Choi Jae-hyung, even for a ‘level 7 civil servant,’ had looks that didn’t fall short anywhere, but Ji-sung, for a ‘prosecutor,’ wasn’t just okay looking.
Honestly, with his height well over 190cm and his exotic face reminiscent of an actor, she had never seen anyone like Kwon Ji-sung around her. Being a former national youth judo athlete, his physique was outstanding, and seeing that he had become a prosecutor with that athletic background, his intelligence was also extraordinary.
Watching him these past few days, she noticed he had a slightly rough way of speaking, perhaps from his tough experiences at crime scenes, but he wasn’t the type to carelessly blurt things out in front of strangers. Until just recently, Ha-young had been completely unaware that he was this type of person.
She had only seen him as her brother’s friend and hadn’t considered him as a man, but even just recalling the number of female students who had chased after Kwon Ji-sung in high school, ten fingers weren’t enough to count them all.
Kwon Ji-sung, who was always with Song Doo-young, was so good-looking that it was also the reason she hadn’t felt attracted to other men all this time. Seriously, compared to Kwon Ji-sung, there wasn’t a man in the world with properly defined features.
Today, Kwon Ji-sung’s appearance in his neatly tailored suit shone even brighter. Seeing his sophisticated and restrained look, like a model in a luxury suit advertisement, she noticed that the earlobes of her company colleagues had turned red.
Ha-young felt satisfied at Kang Se-mi’s defeated expression. It was a lie worth enduring the life of the unemployed.
She understood why men proudly kept beautiful women by their side like trophies. Kwon Ji-sung was the perfect man to show off like a trophy.
“Ha-young-nim, then you should buy us dinner tonight. We were just about to go get pasta. It’s about time for the wedding invitations too.”
And at the words of her colleague Kim Ji-ye that followed, Ha-young vaguely brushed off the situation.
“What should I do? My fiancé is busy right now…”
“Would you like to have steak? My acquaintance has a restaurant near Gwanghwamun.”
But Ji-sung suddenly cut into the conversation with her colleagues. Ha-young gave Ji-sung a warning look with trembling pupils, but he didn’t care.
Was it an exaggeration to say his eyes seemed to say, ‘Just try me’?
Ji-sung began to act seriously, his usually nonchalant eyes gleaming with amusement.
Was there just a hair’s breadth difference between a prosecutor and a gangster? Since when was Kwon Ji-sung so thug-like?
“O, oppa… You said you were busy?”
“It’s okay. These are our Ha-young’s colleagues. No matter how busy I am, it’s only polite to treat them to a meal.”
Ji-sung casually acted and put his arm around Ha-young’s shoulder. Snuggled in the large embrace of Kwon Ji-sung, Ha-young couldn’t bring herself to push his hand away.
Who are you?
This wasn’t the Kwon Ji-sung she had known since she was a baby. He was a man who knew nothing of playfulness. No, more than a man, he was a serious adult with absolutely no sense of humor.
As if he had a lot pent up against Ha-young, he tilted his head crookedly and gently caressed her cheek.
In the midst of it, her neck grew hot at Ji-sung’s touch. Ha-young tried hard to hide the heat and composed her breathing.
Seeing that, Kang Se-mi’s face turned red and blue with jealousy, which secretly pleased Ha-young, making her hesitate for a moment.
“Sounds good!”
This time, it was employee Lee Hee-joo who spoke to Ha-young in a nasal tone. In front of their colleagues, who were pointedly acting friendly, Kang Se-mi, who had been spreading rumors that Ha-young and her fiancé were on bad terms, coughed awkwardly.
Alright. If Kwon Ji-sung was going to act like this, she couldn’t back out now. Since things had come to this and she had already decided to submit her resignation, should she just flatten Kang Se-mi’s nose before leaving?
She wanted to stand tall in front of Kang Se-mi, who had been subtly belittling and trying to ostracize Ha-young.
“Oppa, are you really okay with this…?”
“Yeah. I’ll go get the car quickly, so wait here for a moment.”
Ha-young followed Ji-sung, who was leading the way to the car. Chasing after him so her voice wouldn’t reach her colleagues, she whispered in a low voice.
“Oppa. What are you doing right now?”
“Why? Didn’t you like my acting?”
So he did have a lot pent up.
Yeah. In front of her brother, she was the sinner…
“I’m sorry.”
Ji-sung chuckled at Ha-young’s apology. Then, he wiped his smile away and asked her.
“You still haven’t told people about the broken engagement?”
“Yeah…”
Ji-sung frowned as if he couldn’t understand Ha-young. Ha-young added, as if explaining.
“It’s not that I have lingering feelings… It’s just been a little complicated. I even made a mistake with you while drunk…”
“Mistake?”
“Yeah.”
“…….”
“…….”
A moment of silence fell between them.
“I’m pathetic, aren’t I?”
“Yeah.”
“You don’t understand, do you?”
“Yeah.”
“But you’ll still act for me, right?”
“Yeah.”
Ji-sung, who had stopped in front of the car, took out his smart key and asked Ha-young.
“I can do this acting thing for you. What are you going to do after that?”
“Oh, nothing much… I’m just going to pull myself together and prepare for the annulment. I’m going to quit the company.”
“You didn’t even do anything wrong, but you’re going that far?”
“The atmosphere at our company is a bit… like that. Since it’s a male-dominated field, the women tend to stick together. If you get ostracized from that group, company life becomes tiring, but I don’t want to hang out with them either.”
Ji-sung, who had been mulling over Ha-young’s words, nodded.
“So, all I have to do today is pretend to be your fiancé?”
Ji-sung asked, looking curious.
“Uh-huh…”
She felt embarrassed at herself for not only sleeping with her brother’s friend but also making him lie, but there was no reason to refuse Ji-sung’s kindness in willingly helping her.
“Then what are you going to do for me?”
Ji-sung tilted his head and met her eyes. His black, glossy gaze looked somewhat sinister.
“What am I going to do?”
“You’re so innocent. There’s no such thing as a free lunch in this world.”
He was the one who had stepped forward first, saying he would buy her colleagues a meal. She was dumbfounded at him demanding something in return now.
Ha-young huffed and retorted, but Ji-sung’s words about nothing being free kept sounding strange to her, and she blushed alone. Afraid that he would notice her neck turning red, she unnecessarily swept her hair back with her hand, trying to cover her flushed skin.
“Don’t even dream about it.”
“How do you know what I’m dreaming about and tell me not to?”
Was that not what he meant?
She felt embarrassed by her own dirty thoughts that she had jumped to alone, but she didn’t want to admit it, so she glared at him.
“You were the one who said you’d buy me steak first. I didn’t ask you to, did I?”
Ha-young hesitated, fluttering her lips, and Ji-sung took a step closer, tilting his head.
“Then shall we call it off? We can go back and tell them I’m busy.”
But she couldn’t cancel dinner. If she made them wait and then went back on her word, Kang Se-mi would become even more self-important.
Ha-young glanced at her colleagues who were gathered in front of the company building, chatting. She didn’t know what Ji-sung wanted, but her pride wouldn’t allow her to back down now.
“What do you want me to do for you?”
“Well. I’ll think about it.”
Ji-sung, who smirked as if amused, seemed somewhat annoying. Just as Ha-young pursed her lips and tried to open the passenger seat door, Ji-sung suddenly pulled her waist tightly.
“Ugh!”
And then he deeply kissed Ha-young’s lips. Ha-young, her face red, was startled and mumbled with her lips pressed against his.
“Wha, what are you doing now?”
“What do you think? I’m acting properly.”
Ha-young, her lips still touching Ji-sung’s, looked far away at Kang Se-mi. Seeing her completely lose her will to fight at the sight of the two kissing, Ha-young somehow felt satisfied with the kiss and wrapped her arms around Ji-sung’s neck.
This was just acting.
It was just a kiss to show Kang Se-mi…
Her heart raced madly. Her whole body felt like it was melting at his trembling breath.
Ah, this beautiful trophy was also a good kisser.
The eyes that met hers wavered. She felt dizzy at his swaying breath.
Ji-sung gently stroked Ha-young’s waist and slowly pulled his lips away. He ran his thumb over the smudged lipstick on Ha-young’s lips and gave her a peck on the forehead.
What was that? Why was it so sweet? It was just acting, so why was his gaze so electrifying?
Even though their lips were apart, her heart felt like it would burst. Leaving Ha-young, who was trying hard to act nonchalant, Ji-sung opened his mouth in a low voice.
“Honey, get in.”
“Uh-huh?”
Ha-young was speechless at the embarrassing endearment.
Her face turned bright red because the endearment was more embarrassing than the kiss.
Ji-sung politely opened the passenger door for her and gave her a radiant smile. Ha-young got into the passenger seat of his expensive foreign car with a trident emblem, worth nearly four years of her salary. Her heart pounded as if it would burst.
*** Yoon Yi-ah
Was this man playing with her?
Even while driving, Ji-sung kept fiddling with Ha-young’s hand with his right hand, and even after they sat down at the restaurant, he didn’t let go of her.
He had bad hands. But that bad habit made her knees buckle.
The more Ha-young gave him a look to stop, the more Ji-sung teasingly tickled each of her fingers.
Kang Se-mi, who had looked somewhat disgruntled since they got into the expensive foreign car, completely buried her face in her phone and didn’t look up at Ji-sung’s blatant display of affection.
“What would you like to eat, honey?”
“Cough!”
Since when had she become Kwon Ji-sung’s ‘honey’?
Just as Ha-young was shocked by Ji-sung’s affectionate tone, her colleagues’ expressions were also a sight to behold.
“You’re hungry, aren’t you?”
It was understandable. A seemingly perfect man who had everything was acting like a fool for love in front of everyone, so everyone was embarrassed but also secretly envious.
“Honey, you say…”
“Why? Is our honey embarrassed in front of her colleagues?”
Haa, this guy, really.
Ha-young was dumbfounded by Kwon Ji-sung, who was casually spouting embarrassing endearments in front of the women, but strangely, as Kang Se-mi’s expression soured, a sense of peace settled in her heart.
“But didn’t you say he was a civil servant? Your fiancé.”
Kang Se-mi, who had been staring intently at Ji-sung’s business card alone, suddenly raised her head as if a thought had occurred to her. She seemed determined to find fault with the inconsistent story of the ‘prosecutor’ clearly written on the business card Ji-sung had given her, specifically ‘belonging to the Criminal Division 3 of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office.’
“Ah, well, you see…”
While Ha-young was racking her brain for an excuse, Ji-sung interjected.
“I’m a level 4 public official. A special service public official.”
At Ji-sung’s explanation, which was half boasting, Kang Se-mi irritably shoved the business card into her handbag.
“I heard prosecutors are level 4 officials under the Ministry of Justice…”
Seeing Kang Se-mi getting worked up, lies flowed smoothly from Ha-young’s mouth.
“But are prosecutors allowed to drive foreign cars?”
Seeing Kang Se-mi determined to find fault with something, Ha-young answered instead.
“My fiancé’s father has a big business in Australia. He bought it for him. He drives a Korean car for work and only drives the foreign car when he’s dating me.”
Ji-sung gave Ha-young a sly, amused look as she naturally rattled off the answers. His gaze was embarrassing, but Ha-young fell into the act as if possessed. The eyes of the fake couple meeting each other were full of hidden intentions.
“Ah... two cars.”
Seeing Kang Se-mi’s distorted expression, Ji-sung ostentatiously caressed Ha-young’s hand on the table and then naturally rested his hand on her thigh.
“……!”
Ha-young was startled by the dizzying sensation spreading between her legs and stared wide-eyed at Ji-sung.
Ji-sung smiled brightly and stroked Ha-young’s thigh. Her cheeks flushed at the inappropriate touch, but against her will, her legs grew wet.
She looked at Ji-sung with wide eyes at the heat spreading to her heart, but he still wore a nonchalant smile.
Even though it was under the table, other people across from them were clearly watching. Ha-young was dumbfounded by Kwon Ji-sung casually touching her thigh, but she herself was even more dumbfounded by the thrill she felt at his touch.
Since when had Kwon Ji-sung become so generous with his smiles? It felt like she had seen all his lifetime of smiles this evening. Ha-young, whose pride was at stake, was one thing, but she couldn’t understand why Ji-sung was so engrossed in acting.
Thinking it was impossible to reason with him, Ha-young pinched the back of Ji-sung’s hand as if to kill him, and he met her eyes with a loving gaze, subtly removing his hand. Then, he naturally caressed Ha-young’s cheek, and before she could stop him, his hand returned to her thigh.
Wow, look at this guy.
A player, a player.
Did he always play around with women like this?
Anyway, he was just as low-class as Song Doo-young’s friend.
If he flirted with that handsome face, calling her ‘honey,’ women would probably fall for it.
“But how did you two meet?”
The three women across the table, unaware of what was happening under the tablecloth, tore off pieces of bread and began to ask about their love story. Ha-young tried hard to ignore the hand touching the soft skin of her thigh and focused on the conversation.
“He’s my older brother’s friend.”
If the story became too grand, her poor memory wouldn’t be able to handle it, so Ha-young mixed in some truth and answered appropriately.
“Wow, dating your older brother’s friend! Isn’t that like a unicorn, a mythical creature story? All my older brother’s friends are people you can’t even associate with.”
Having experienced it herself, she thought her older brother’s friend also seemed like someone you couldn’t associate with, but she didn’t bother to add that.
The hand stroking her thigh was so strange that she was embarrassed by her panties getting wet in front of her colleagues.
If she moved even slightly, her lower body would become so soaked with fluids that it would make a squelching sound.
“You must have a good relationship with your older brother. The last time I talked to my older brother was last holiday.”
There was no way they had a good relationship.
Due to the sudden broken engagement, she had nowhere else to turn and had unusually called her older brother, crying and wailing, but as expected, that man was of no help to Ha-young. He was devious, but her brother’s friend was more helpful, if anything.
“Yes. I’m very close to my brother.”
Ha-young smiled, hiding her true feelings. At her reaction, her colleagues enviously pulled their chairs closer to the table.
“Are there any unmarried prosecutors around you? Please introduce us to your boyfriend.”
Employee Lee Hee-joo chattered with sparkling eyes, and Ji-sung answered gently.
“There are many unmarried legal professionals among my classmates from the training institute. I’ll introduce you later.”
At Ji-sung’s offer to introduce his legal professional classmates, her colleagues acted as if they had already become Ha-young’s allies.
Only the defeated Kang Se-mi began to saw at her steak with a fierce knife. Fortunately, Ji-sung didn’t touch Ha-young while eating. He absolutely hated playing around while eating, but Ji-sung didn’t touch Ha-young’s sore spot. Ha-young also focused on her meal, trying hard to ignore the secret sensations.
As they finished the course meal in a friendly atmosphere and dessert came out, Ji-sung personally wiped Ha-young’s lips with her napkin and stared intently at her face.
His gaze was so intense that she unknowingly blushed. Ha-young awkwardly touched her face with her fingers, embarrassed by Ji-sung’s gaze.
“Did something get on it?”
“It’s okay now. I wiped it off.”
Why was he acting so seriously?
Her heart raced madly at the warm gaze she had never even received from a boyfriend. She didn’t know if she was trembling because she was afraid of getting caught in a lie or because his touch was warm.
Did everyone else date like this? Suddenly, Ha-young couldn’t shake the thought that what she had done so far hadn’t been dating at all.
Now, even her colleagues seemed to take Ji-sung’s affectionate behavior for granted and didn’t pay much attention to it.
Ji-sung gently rubbed Ha-young’s lips with his thumb. She swallowed hard at the strange sensation spreading through her teeth.
The gazes that met trembled. It must be because they were lying in front of people. Her heart pounded madly.
Was it because she was too nervous? The unfamiliar trembling made her vision spin.
Click.
That was the moment. Ji-sung’s phone vibrated, momentarily breaking the tension between them.
“Excuse me. It’s a call from my deputy chief. I’ll just take this.”
Ji-sung, who had been wiping Ha-young’s lips, suddenly picked up his phone and stood up. Only after he disappeared did Ha-young let out a sigh of relief, like air escaping a balloon in a vacuum.
Her colleagues, in good spirits after the satisfying course meal, chattered incessantly. Kang Se-mi, who had gotten tipsy from the wine, slowly blinked her eyes and asked Ha-young.
“By the way, Ha-young-nim.”
“Yes, Se-mi-nim.”
“Aren’t you giving out wedding invitations? The wedding is at a hotel, right? I heard hotel reservations are booked a year in advance these days. Did you manage to get one?”
Was she trying to find one last fault to belittle her with? Kang Se-mi held out her hand for an invitation.
“I didn’t know we’d be having dinner together like this today, so I didn’t bring any invitations. I’ll ask my fiancé if they’re in his car later. Please eat. I’ll go wash my hands.”
Seeing Kang Se-mi disheveled from the alcohol, Ha-young realized it was time to wrap things up. This was the end of the tiresome Kang Se-mi. She could submit her resignation within the week. A company life that hadn’t even lasted a full year. Once she quit, no one from the company would likely come to her wedding to give congratulatory money.
Ha-young headed to the restroom to fix her makeup before leaving the restaurant.
Washing her hands in cold water, she looked in the mirror. What a bolt out of the blue this was.
Before she could even finalize her broken engagement, she had ended up asking her brother’s friend to pretend to be her boyfriend just to save face in front of her colleagues.
“And this is the time for this. This is the worst, Song Ha-young…”
It was a reckless lie, but it was better than being humiliated in front of Kang Se-mi. She felt pathetic herself, but even now, she didn’t regret her choice.
She used to argue vehemently when Song Doo-young treated her like a child, but now she admitted it.
She was an immature brat.
The worst kind of immature brat.
But what could she do? The pride that Choi Jae-hyung had trampled on. That petty pride was important to her.
Letting out a heavy sigh, she left the restroom, only to stop abruptly as a large male figure blocked her path.
“Oppa? You were here? Perfect timing. Se-mi-nim was asking where the wedding is going to be, heueup…”
Thinking she needed to perfectly finish the lie and match her words, Ha-young blurted out her thoughts incoherently, only for Ji-sung’s lips to roughly overlap hers.
“Heueup, why, why are you doing this again?”
Ha-young pounded on Ji-sung’s chest repeatedly, pushing him away, but Ji-sung pushed her against the wall.
Earlier, in front of everyone, it was acting. But in a place where no one was watching, she couldn’t understand why Ji-sung, who hadn’t had a drop of alcohol, was doing this.
Ha-young pushed Ji-sung’s shoulder with all her might, but he didn’t budge, as solid as a rock.
Trapped between the wall behind her and Ji-sung’s body in front, Ha-young soon accepted his kiss.
Their lips pressed hotly together, Ji-sung met her eyes. The movement of his thick tongue, sliding smoothly between her teeth, was lewd and blatant, as if trying to evoke the act of intercourse.
“Heut, why, why are you doing this!”
Ha-young mumbled, biting Ji-sung’s tongue. Ji-sung also murmured lowly, his lips still touching hers.
“It feels strange.”
“What feels strange?”
“Just acting in front of your colleagues.”
Ji-sung pressed his body tightly against Ha-young’s. He bit and pulled her lower lip for a long moment, then slowly licked it with his tongue. At that strange sensation, she felt the strength drain from her knees.
“I think I have a knack for acting.”
Her legs felt like they would give out, but she couldn’t move because of Ji-sung’s strong grip on her waist. Her cheeks, flushed with heat, burned.
“If my dick could see this, it would be method acting.”
“Where, what’s…”
Before she could hear the answer, Ha-young understood what Ji-sung meant. Ji-sung’s pressed lower body heavily pushed against her lower abdomen.
Long and hard…
“Whew…”
It was her brother’s friend’s cock.
“Hmm.”
Ji-sung inhaled the lewd breath that escaped Ha-young’s lips. Their soft mucous membranes mixed together, creating a dizzying pleasure.
“Ha-young-ah.”
“Huh?”
“I can touch you again today.”
“Heueut…”
She felt strange. The wound from being cruelly dumped by her fiancé seemed to be dulling day by day because of Kwon Ji-sung.
‘I didn’t even know, but when a woman is proactive, I get excited too.’
‘So is that your excuse? You weren’t interested in me, so you went after other women…’
‘I was curious. If it wouldn’t work with other women either. But it did. So it’s not my problem…’
Compared to her ex-fiancé, who had belittled her self-esteem by calling her frigid, just holding hands with Ji-sung made her panties wet. Considering that her heart never fluttered even when holding hands with Choi Jae-hyung, who had followed her around for five years, she might have been frigid only towards Choi Jae-hyung. Or was she becoming a proactive woman only with Kwon Ji-sung?
Anyway, even though she knew this kiss was inappropriate, she felt comforted like a snob.
Tsreup, tsreut.
Her mind became hazy at the pecking kisses that rained down on her lips. Pressing his erect cock against Ha-young’s body, Ji-sung’s vulgar actions made her want to lift her hips.
This feeling, as if somewhere between her legs had been hollowed out, was a dizzying sensation she had never felt before in her life.
At the feeling of Ji-sung moving his hips and relentlessly pressing against the crevice, Ha-young let out a gasp.
“Heueut, euheum.”
“Ha-young-ah.”
“Eueung?”
Ha-young unknowingly slowly lifted her eyelids, which had closed on their own. Ji-sung stared intently at her with unfocused eyes.
“Send them away.”
He whispered, rubbing his lips against Ha-young’s fluttering eyelids.
“Do you want to go to my place?”
At Ji-sung’s suggestion, her heart dropped with a thud. Her vulva tightened at his meltingly hot gaze.
A rather long silence followed before an answer came. Ha-young barely pushed Ji-sung away and opened her mouth.
“Oppa, are you crazy?”
Ji-sung nodded with a smile.
“It seems like it.”
Ji-sung whispered, fiddling with Ha-young’s earlobe.
“Hoo, I’ve been filled with animalistic thoughts about wanting to do it with you all day.”
Kwon Ji-sung, his reason shaken because of her. It was a thrilling statement that made her heart pound as if it would burst.
A shiver ran down her spine at the breath that poured into her ear. Her vision spun at the tingling sensation spreading through her nerves.
Although they hadn’t gone all the way that day, Ha-young recalled the lewd sensations of that time every day, experiencing a satisfaction she had never felt before.
She even shuddered at her own appearance, obsessing over ‘that thing’ with Kwon Ji-sung like a screwball after being dumped.
She thought she was disgusted by her fiancé’s beastly behavior, but her own actions didn’t seem much different.
She was still wavering now, but she had to pull herself together. It had only been a few days since her engagement was broken. Moreover, she hadn’t even canceled the wedding hall reservation yet, so she couldn’t just act on her desires.
At least, she didn’t want to become the same kind of person as her ex-fiancé. Her mother had even fallen ill at home due to worrying about Ha-young, so she couldn’t just go back and forth between her brother’s friend’s bed like a crazy person. The immature act of this fake engaged couple show in front of her colleagues was enough.
“Okay. Let’s go in.”
Ji-sung grabbed Ha-young’s hand as she tried to turn away. Her small hand, caught in Ji-sung’s large one, couldn’t move.
“You said earlier.”
He pulled Ha-young’s hand and tickled her wrist with his lips.
“In exchange for pretending to be your fiancé, you’d grant me a wish.”
Ha-young glared at Ji-sung. Surely, her brother’s friend, whom she had known her whole life, wouldn’t cowardly reveal their secret in front of her colleagues just because she wouldn’t sleep with him?
“And if I don’t?”
Ha-young retorted, and he tilted his head.
“If you don’t, I won’t pretend to be your fiancé either?”
“Maybe.”
She was worried about the implication in his words, ‘It depends on you,’ but Ha-young brazenly pushed forward.
“Okay. And don’t call me ‘honey’ in front of people. It’s too much. I’ll go in first, so come in three minutes.”
Ha-young walked back towards the table. She took composed steps, but she still felt like she was floating in the sky at the lingering, thrilling sensation that threatened to overwhelm her.
*** Yoon Yi-ah
Ji-sung put each of Ha-young’s colleagues in a taxi and got into the car with her.
“You really didn’t have to take me home.”
Even after reluctantly getting into the passenger seat, Ha-young grumbled that she was fine for a while.
“It’s only a five-minute drive from my place to yours anyway. We’re going the same way, why would you insist on taking a taxi? I deliberately didn’t drink a glass of wine so I could drive you. Are you avoiding me?”
“Does it look like I’m not?”
Ha-young’s resentful murmur made him chuckle.
When did she become this cute?
Come to think of it, she had been cute every day since the day he first saw her 24 years ago. It was just that lately, feeling lust for Song Ha-young, who had been so overwhelmingly cute that he hadn’t seen her as a woman, was surprisingly disconcerting.
When did the chick in the yellow raincoat become a woman?
At first, he was angry with Ha-young for drawing a line and saying she would hire a lawyer herself. What did she know, not knowing anything properly? As an expert, he could clearly see how things would turn out, and Ha-young’s behavior of acting like she would never see him again because of that night briefly infuriated him.
But seeing her introduce Ji-sung as her boyfriend in front of her colleagues made him swallow a laugh at the unexpected twist.
She was still a kid after all.
Cute. So cute it made his heart ache.
Ha-young trying to save face in front of her colleagues was adorable, and he felt quite pleased that she thought he was someone she wouldn’t be embarrassed to introduce as her fiancé in front of others.
He had been taken aback at suddenly having to act as Ha-young’s fiancé, but while he couldn’t understand why she hadn’t told her colleagues about the broken engagement yet, he also thought, ‘She must have had her reasons,’ and willingly played along with her request.
‘Then what are you going to do for me?’
But Ha-young’s reaction of blushing at Ji-sung’s joking remark made him want to tease her.
‘What am I going to do?’
‘You’re so innocent. There’s no such thing as a free lunch in this world.’
‘Don’t even dream about it.’
‘How do you know what I’m dreaming about and tell me not to?’
Her neck immediately turned red at the suggestive nuance. Ha-young’s fiercely shaking eyes were adorable, and he became engrossed in playing the boyfriend.
And then the kiss that followed.
Her red face, unable to hide her embarrassment, was cute, and he had only intended to tease her. But unknowingly, he had ended up capturing her lips.
A tingling thrill spread through his veins.
Last night, he thought he had lost his mind because his lower body was being held while he was drunk. But today, with a clear mind, he pressed his lips against Song Ha-young’s lips like a person possessed.
A spring breeze rustled in his heart. What was this feeling? It couldn’t be that his heart would naturally flutter just because a man and a woman touched each other.
On Friday, he had gotten hard because Ha-young had brazenly asked him to touch her. But today, just holding her hand, no, just making eye contact with her, made his heart pound like crazy.
As if to confirm, he captured Ha-young’s lips again in front of the restroom. The thrill that became clearer with each passing moment made Ji-sung feel bewildered.
“Anyway, thank you for today…”
At Ha-young’s voice, he gathered his thoughts that filled his head and started the car.
His lower body, still half-erect, was still heavy. Was this throbbing he was feeling only his own?
“Were you satisfied?”
Ha-young hesitated for a moment at Ji-sung’s words. Her neck, red again, was so adorable that he couldn’t take his eyes off her. Ji-sung, lost in admiring Ha-young’s profile without realizing the light had changed, stepped on the accelerator again at the sound of a honking horn from behind.
“Yeah. You were a great actor, oppa. You deserve an acting award. I was satisfied.”
“Is that so? I’m not satisfied.”
“…….”
Silence fell in the car at the end of Ji-sung’s words.
He couldn’t figure out Ha-young, who blushed every time he joked but then took a step back.
The car had already stopped in front of Ha-young’s house.
Remembering the reason he had gone all the way to Ha-young’s company today, Ji-sung stopped joking and thought about the issues related to her broken engagement that needed to be resolved.
“Do you have the wedding hall contract?”
“Yeah. Dad has it.”
“Give it to me. I’ll call the wedding hall.”
He could just leave it to the lawyer he had decided to introduce. He used the contract as an excuse to continue talking to her.
“No. I can cancel the wedding hall myself. Just make sure the apartment issue is handled properly.”
“Your father must be busy too. It’s probably better for a legal professional to call than a regular person. Wedding hall terms often have many unfair contracts. I’ll look over the contract and talk to the person in charge directly.”
They were already in front of Ha-young’s house, but for some reason, he couldn’t bring himself to leave.
“Oppa. I really won’t forget this favor.”
“Give me one of his business cards.”
“Huh?”
“Your ex-fiancé. Just in case. I tried calling him, but he didn’t answer. No, wait. Should I just go in with you? It’s a bit awkward to talk about organizing the case details in the car.”
Even if he followed her into Ha-young’s house, what would he do in a house where her whole family lived together?
“Oppa.”
“Don’t even think about hiring another lawyer. You probably don’t have much money left after preparing for the wedding anyway. Do you know how much lawyers who actually do their job charge these days, not those network firms that offer services at rock-bottom prices? The minimum is ten million won. And there’s a separate success fee. Big law firms like Jiphung have different digits altogether.”
At Ji-sung’s barrage of numbers, Ha-young bit her dry lip.
“Thank you. But I’ll just talk to the lawyer you’re going to introduce me to directly. You’ll get tired of being in the middle. Is that okay?”
“…….”
He couldn’t honestly say that his offer to go to Ha-young’s house was purely innocent. Especially since he was incredibly busy, there was even less reason to spend time on his friend’s sister’s broken engagement.
“Oppa… you and Doo-young oppa have been friends for 24 years.”
“That’s how it is.”
“I think I lost my judgment last time. I apologize. And I don’t want to get in between you and Doo-young oppa anymore. You know Song Doo-young’s personality.”
At Ha-young’s rational words, Ji-sung let out a long sigh.
Right. He couldn’t betray his 24-year friendship with Song Doo-young for a fleeting spring breeze that stirred his heart.
Trying to make a move on his friend’s sister, who was emotionally vulnerable after a broken engagement, was something only trash would do.
If the feelings he had for Song Ha-young were just temporary infatuation, then the friendship he had built with Song Doo-young over a lifetime was irreplaceable.
“Okay. I’m sorry too. I’ll call Partner Attorney Hong Sun-joo tomorrow, so if you get a call, answer it.”
“Thank you.”
With that, Ha-young got out of the passenger seat and ran towards her apartment.
It was a truly strange thing. They hadn’t even had sex, just a few playful, meaningless kisses.
What on earth was this feeling? It was clearly a warm spring night, close to summer. But a cool breeze blew in the empty space where Ha-young had stood.
***
Ha-young jumped out of Ji-sung’s car, clutching her pounding heart.
Why was she feeling like this all of a sudden?
Ever since she kissed Ji-sung in front of the restroom, she couldn’t control her facial expressions.
She was dumbfounded at herself for being such a fickle woman.
Her wounds from the breakup hadn’t even healed yet, but every word from Ji-sung made her cheeks flush and her heart flutter.
Right. She must be crazy. Her wedding was a month away, and she had broken off the engagement. If she were in her right mind, would that even make sense?
Submitting her resignation was definitely the right thing to do. She should go on a trip to Jeju Island or something to clear her head for a while and rest until she regained her sanity. Then she wouldn’t have to feel her heart race while looking at her brother’s friend like a crazy person.
One mistake was enough.
Ha-young usually gritted her teeth at Song Doo-young, but even if she had been dumped, she couldn’t get involved with her brother’s only friend.
Men and women were bound to break up even right before marriage. If she had a casual one-night stand with Ji-sung and things went wrong, either Song Doo-young and Kwon Ji-sung would break off their friendship, or Ha-young would have to pretend not to know Kwon Ji-sung for the rest of her life…
No way. That would be a terrible thing to do to their friendship. She could just quit the company, but she couldn’t just never see her own flesh and blood again.
“He’s not even thinking about giving me rice cakes, but I’m already drinking the kimchi soup…”
Ha-young muttered to herself as she was about to get on the elevator when a large hand rested on her shoulder.
“Kimchi soup?”
“Oh my god, you scared me.”
“Why are you going in now? What are you so surprised about? Pay attention. Did you drink?”
“No, I had a glass of wine. Where did you go, oppa?”
“Went to throw out the trash.”
Ha-young’s older brother, Song Doo-young, asked as he got on the elevator. Ha-young couldn’t meet Doo-young’s eyes, feeling like she had been caught doing something wrong.
“I met Ji-sung oppa and had dinner.”
Feeling preemptively guilty, she confessed, and Doo-young patted her approvingly.
“Hoo… I feel so sorry to Ji-sung, I’m embarrassed. I know how busy prosecutors in Korea are, but I shamelessly bothered him because of you. Did you pay for the meal?”
“Huh?”
Come to think of it, she had not only made Ji-sung act as her boyfriend in front of her colleagues so she wouldn’t have to show herself paying with her card, but she had also made him buy an expensive dinner.
You’re shameless, Song Ha-young. You should have at least said you’d send him a bank transfer.
“Did you get a free meal? You not only make him work for free but also get him to buy you food.”
“It’s not like Ji-sung oppa would let me pay for the meal…”
“I guess not.”
Doo-young repeatedly rubbed his dry face with his hands, looking troubled.
“What are Mom and Dad doing?”
“It’s like a funeral home atmosphere. I think Dad told his colleagues today that your wedding was canceled. He was so happy that at least you would get married before he retired and he could receive congratulatory money. He’s frustrated, so he’s cleaning his fishing rod, saying he’s going fishing this weekend.”
“What about Mom?”
“I overheard her talking to my aunt. It seems like Mom is embarrassed and hasn’t been able to tell her friends yet.”
“Ah…”
Ha-young shrank as she entered the front door, as if she had fallen into a vacuum.
“I’m home.”
The house was as quiet as a mouse, and all the lights had been off for a long time. Ha-young greeted her mother, who was lying in the living room, blankly watching television. Her father, cleaning his fishing rod on the dark veranda without turning on the lights to save electricity, looked like the protagonist of a horror movie.
Ha-young lowered her head like a sinner and returned to her room.
She had wandered for a while, and now it was time to return to reality. She would quit the company, and tomorrow, before it got any later, she would have to tell her friends and college classmates, to whom she had already sent out invitations, about the broken engagement.
Ha-young sat in front of her laptop late into the night, sorting through the materials to send to the lawyer Ji-sung had introduced.
Late at night, past midnight, she sent her ex-fiancé’s business card to Ji-sung’s phone. He checked the message immediately, but there was no reply.
Ha-young tossed and turned in bed, staring at her phone. She couldn’t fall asleep until dawn.
Her heart ached in one corner.
It hurt…
Was it because of the broken engagement, or because of Kwon Ji-sung? She couldn’t figure out the reason.
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