New Year's Kiss

On the Thirty-First of December

When she was younger, Seri would wake up before sunrise every Christmas morning to wait by the door for the arrival of her father's annual gift. Yoon Jeung-pyeong, despite already having a second family of his own, never failed to give her a present during the holidays. It served as Seri's only reminder that she still had a parent who cared. She would impatiently pace back and forth in her pajamas, biting her thumbnail only for it to be swatted away by the housekeeper, Ma Yeong-ae. When the doorbell finally rang, it would take her less than a second to open it with a happy Christmas greeting ready for the messenger.

As the years went on, Jeung-pyeong's presents became shinier and his greeting cards became colder. His gifts were the usual kind one would expect from a wealthy but distant parent: a glittering piece of jewelry, a gorgeous designer dress, expensive footwear, or the latest gadget. Something worthy but generic enough to cover the fact that he knew nothing about his daughter. Still, Seri loved and treasured anything that came from him.

When she moved to Seoul to attend university, the gift and card were then accompanied by another envelope. The card would contain the usual holiday greeting and a few words from him, then the envelope would contain an invitation to a New Year's Eve celebration. Each year's party is different from the last in terms of the hosts and the venues, but just the same when it comes to the boorish, arrogant guests whom she was annually forced to rubbed shoulders with.

They were rich former colleagues of her father living in the city, and Seri had originally thought that he was trying to avoid going himself and sending her in his place. That was until the year when he explicitly told her that a son of his friend would be taking her as his date for the night. Then the reality sunk in that he was actually sending her over in hopes of her falling in love with some snobbish rich kid whose family he approved of.

That boy was given a slap on the face instead of a kiss at the stroke of midnight for details she'd forced herself to bury deep in the recesses of her brain. In her anger, Seri called her father in the wee hours of the morning on New Year's Day to give him a piece of her mind, and he never attempted to set her up since. As a consolation, he had since then given her the option to bring a plus one of her own but still expected her to show up to the event.

The party itself was not so bad. The annual event usually took place at some lavish penthouse or a spacious ballroom, filled with camera flashes, sparkling gowns and dapper tuxes, and too much champagne. And with every host trying to top what the former did the year before, guests were often delighted with the unexpected spectacles, may it be an appearance of a famous singer or a show that rivaled that of the Moulin Rouge. But for Seri, she mostly looked forward to what the chefs have in store for the evening. The scrumptious food certainly helped when she had to converse with arrogant self-centered pricks and the judgmental little dandelions sitting with her at the table.

"Here's to hoping that this year will be different," she wished out loud to Yeong-ae as she latched on a diamond drop earring. The latter caught her gaze in the reflection of her vanity mirror, amused at how nervous the younger woman appeared to be, before taking the bobby pin between her teeth and sliding it into her hair.

That night, she chose to wear a dusty pink, off-shoulder dress paired with nude Christian Louboutin heels. Her long hair was curled and gathered into a bun near her nape, held in place by several bobby pins. Her jewelry, a pair of delicate earrings, a bracelet, and rings, came from the same set and sparkled in the light. She caught the attention of everyone in the lobby of her apartment building when she exited the elevator, and it took everything in her to keep her chin up and walk calmly instead of giving into the desire of hastily running away from the attention.

"You look breathtaking, my dear," Yeong-ae had gushed at the door, smiling, as she handed her a wrap and her clutch. Seri reminded herself of those words as she made her way towards the entrance where she knew her date for the evening was waiting for her.