Dokyung was walking along a hallway lined with several private rooms.
It was a quite famous traditional Korean restaurant in the Gangnam area. Being right in the middle of dinner time, the restaurant’s interior was quite busy.
About halfway down the corridor, Kang Jinwoo, who had been walking one step ahead, suddenly stopped and turned around.
“Oh… I don’t think this is the right room?”
He pointed at what was supposed to be their room’s entrance. Dokyung could also see that the room was empty.
“I’ll check again.”
Jinwoo immediately took out his phone and turned away.
With a moment of free time, Dokyung’s gaze naturally wandered around. After indifferently examining a blue and white porcelain vase that looked crude at first glance, his eyes suddenly stopped on the threshold of the room across from them.
Among the cluster of black men’s dress shoes, there was a neat ivory-colored flat shoe.
Suddenly remembering clearly the woman who had worn those same shoes, the man’s eyebrows twitched slightly.
Just then.
The closed door moved with a clatter as a restaurant employee came out. Through the sliding doors that opened sideways, an unmistakably white and composed face came into view.
It was the owner of the shoes he remembered.
Her lips curled up in a round smile looked unfamiliar. It was quite different from how she had boldly proposed a deal to him with her haughty tone. He almost doubted it was the same woman.
Just as the woman, smiling and holding up a wine glass to take a sip, turned her head in his direction, the door closed, cutting off his view.
Then Jinwoo, who had finished his brief call, brought Dokyung back to attention.
“They’ve moved rooms. Let’s go in.”
Following Jinwoo’s gesture, Dokyung entered the room next to the one where the ivory-colored flat shoes were neatly placed.
***
“Oh my, our Director Han’s glass is empty again!”
The bald man sitting next to her searched for a bottle with an exaggerated action. Yuri lifted her glass with a formal smile. There was no dignity in the act of pouring wine worth hundreds of thousands of won as if it were soju.
The problem was that there wasn’t just one undignified person.
“This brand renewal! Wow, it was absolutely artistic! Maybe it’s because you’re young. There’s definitely a youthful insight. Your thinking is so bright. Ah! Of course, your face is bright too! Hahaha!”
“Everyone acknowledges our Director Han’s beauty, come on!”
Condescending bastards.
Her head was throbbing as she smiled while dealing with these idiotic fools who couldn’t even recognize that what they were spouting was sexual harassment.
The lineup before her was quite impressive.
A food company CEO, a logistics company president, directors from alcohol companies and card companies.
It was a pathetic lineup. It was hard to believe that these garbage old-fashioned bastards were the representatives and executives of companies that dominated South Korea.
“So! Being pretty, why do you work so hard like this? It must be tough!”
“Ah, why do you think? Because Chairman Han keeps being hard only on the pretty Director Han!”
“Tsk. Chairman Han’s stubbornness.”
“You know, right? We’re unconditionally on Director Han’s side.”
A man with a dark complexion said this while ostentatiously gulping down wine. Yuri suppressed her disgusted feelings and politely filled his empty glass.
“Yes, I know. Please help me a lot. I’ll work hard.”
Networking.
This was the reason she couldn’t avoid coming to this gathering, even though she would have preferred to avoid it if possible.
It didn’t matter who was in power and who wasn’t. Yuri, who had no foundation or position, needed to make those who influenced the company both internally and externally her allies as much as possible.
“Anyway, she’s a female warrior, a female warrior! Her ambition is greater than most men’s, I tell you! This is why I like our Director Han! Hahaha!”
His sagging facial skin shook grotesquely as he laughed vulgarly.
Finding it uncomfortable to keep watching, Yuri slightly turned her head.
At that moment, through the closing door gap, she caught a glimpse of a tall, large figure.
For some reason, Yuri couldn’t take her eyes off the door that had closed so coldly for a long time.
“Ah, this tastes good! Indeed, meals taste better when eaten with pretty people! Director Han, I’ll call you when we gather in the future, so come hang out with us often, okay?”
Yuri put her mask back on and showed a calm smile.
In fact, dealing with these condescending people who spewed disgusting words as naturally as breathing was nothing. What was so difficult about this? As long as she could achieve her goal…
It was when Yuri had emptied all the food in front of her with a good appetite. Ahem, someone cleared their throat as they exchanged glances among themselves. It was likely a signal to move to a second venue where they could play with women.
Recognizing this, Yuri suggested ending the gathering first. The sight of them reluctantly pretending to be busy as they staggered to their feet was unbearably pathetic.
After seeing off the old-fashioned men, Yuri turned around and headed straight for the bathroom. As soon as she locked the door, nausea surged. She vomited what she had been forcing down for a long time.
Swoosh.
Standing in front of the sink, she put her hands under the flowing water and rinsed her mouth. When she looked up, her face reflected in the mirror looked terrible.
“Hoo…”
She checked the temperature of her cheeks, flushed from alcohol, with the back of her hand as she wiped off the moisture.
After tidying up her disheveled appearance, she left the bathroom. Unlike the bustling atmosphere from earlier, the restaurant entrance had become quite deserted. As she took out her phone to call a driver, she suddenly noticed a stain on the hem of her skirt.
When she reflexively bent over, the contents of her open handbag spilled out through the gap in the buckle.
Thud!
Had she gotten drunk on just one bottle of wine?
Yuri let out a silent sigh and crouched down. Then she picked up the fallen items one by one and put them back into her handbag.
As she was picking up the last lipstick:
“We meet again.”
A somehow familiar low voice made her hand pause.
Thinking “no way,” she looked up. Sure enough, far away, she met eyes with a clean-faced man who was gazing at her obliquely.
Why is this man here…
Yuri slowly stood up. Then she stared directly at the man who was standing at a distance.
He put a cigarette loosely held between his long fingers into his mouth. His thin cheeks were hollowed, and from his slightly parted teeth, hazy smoke rose slowly.
Somehow, it was quite a different atmosphere from the neat, completely composed appearance she had seen a few days ago.
There was something fascinating about the languid gesture of bringing the tobacco to his lips and the red lips skillfully exhaling smoke. With one hand thrust into his pocket and his eyes cast down at an angle, he looked almost delinquent.
Feeling her gaze being captivated again, she unconsciously bit her lips.
Lee Dokyung flicked away the ash with his fingertip and leisurely moved his foot. From the man who approached closer, a heavy scent mixed with nicotine wafted over.
“Came for dinner, I see.”
To his low question, Yuri calmly gave a short answer.
“Yes. Lee Dokyung-ssi too…”
As she was about to return the obvious question, he suddenly took another step closer and intently examined her face. His gaze, surprisingly brazen, stopped at her lips.
“Are you drunk?”
“…No.”
“Your face is red.”
His expression, tapping his cheek with his index finger, was annoyingly relaxed.
Yuri responded without avoiding his gaze.
“I didn’t drink.”
“You must have quite a capacity for alcohol. You didn’t refuse anything and drank all that was given to you.”
What is this now…
She furrowed her brow and stared at him, as if he had been watching everything.
Lee Dokyung tilted his head and drew deeply on the filter in his mouth. His smooth face was hazy through the smoke he had boldly and rudely blown out. His eyes, meeting hers without a gap, were pitch black.
What broke the momentary silence was the faint sound of a car engine. A high-end sedan in deep blue stopped in front of the two of them.
He extinguished his still-long cigarette by crushing it, and straightened his body that had been leaning delinquently. Then, as if it had never happened, he returned to his usual neat appearance.
“Shall I give you a ride?”
“No. I called a driver.”
“Alright then. Goodbye.”
She glared at the man who got into the car after greeting her without showing a trace of hesitation.
She couldn’t understand why she felt so bad every time they met. It wasn’t just because he had sharply rejected her proposal.
Her fine brow slightly wrinkled. Even the sight of the car smoothly disappearing was annoying…
“What a jerk.”
Her voice, bursting out sincerely, spread out softly.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
