After Jeong-hyeok bows politely and leaves, Seo Dan takes out her cell phone and dials a number.
"He didn't care, Cheol-gang," she says, when the man on the other end picks up. "I told you Jeong-hyeok wasn't one to care about family background."
Cheol-gang says something in response, but Seo Dan interrupts with a voice that almost trembles.
"Cheol-gang, you can keep trying to break them up if you want, but I'm through. It's clear that he's not going to break up with her. And I refuse to keep chasing after him and playing the role of the jealous, pitiable ex." She blinks rapidly, feeling something inside her splinter. "And frankly, I don't care what he does. I've never been pitied and I never will."
With that, she hangs up the phone and stares into the petals of the pink hydrangea across from her, trying to recover her blurry vision. She stands there for a few moments, wondering why nothing in her life seems to make sense anymore.
"Seo Dan," calls her friend Jang-mi from across the lawn. "Why are you standing all alone over there? Come here, there's someone we'd like you to meet!"
When Seo Dan approaches her friend, she sees that she's standing with a slender man about three inches taller than herself. He's wearing a light blue turtleneck and has his thick hair swept across his forehead. On his face is a self assured expression that instantly vanishes as soon as he sees Seo Dan.
Their eyes widen in mutual shock.
"Seo Dan," says Jang-Mi. "Meet Alberto Gu. Alberto is a stock broker in London. Alberto, meet Seo Dan."
***
"Are you really going to pretend like you don't know me? After everything that happened that night?"
Alberto looks like he's going to start pulling out the thick hair that falls across his forehead. He's somehow managed to corner her behind the house, yanking her behind the wall just as she'd been about to make a hasty escape from the garden party.
Seo Dan swallows dryly but looks at him with steely resolve.
"I don't know what you're talking about," she says, determinedly innocent.
Alberto scoffs before leaning further towards her, his eyes gazing into hers.
"Don't you?" he asks.
***
Two nights ago, the Dungeons club:
After watching Jeong-hyeok limp out of the club with the Yoon Se-ri woman, Seo Dan sits at the bar and orders three shots. Then she orders two more, watching the flames light up the glasses with a strange satisfaction. She sees her reflection in one of the glasses – straight dark hair held back with a rhinestone clip, her wide eyes. She looks immaculate, she thinks, however she might feel on the inside.
And then someone taps her on the shoulder.
"Excuse me." The man looks to be just slightly taller than her, much less broad than Jeong-hyeok. He's wearing a well-fitted indigo blue suit, the black button-down shirt underneath showing a hint of his chest. He has very thick lips, thinks Seo-Dan fleetingly, before she focuses on his face. He gives her the hint of a smug smile.
"I've seen you sitting here alone for a long time. Would you like to dance?"
Seo Dan snorts and turns back towards her flaming drinks. As if.
"No, I certainly would not," she says, her voice cold. He'll go away in a few minutes, she knows. To her immense surprise, the man hops up on the empty stool next to her.
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Fanfiction"Jeong-Hyeok," his father says in a tired voice, "This is how it's going to be. The general shareholder meeting is in five weeks from now. If you are not firmly engaged by then - I am going to recommend that the board make someone else the Chairman...
