Chapter 7
7. You, Who Shone So Brightly
2023.05.07.
Hyun-ji responded to Hee-wook's compliment.
"Right? But I have no debts to repay. I'm a princess from a wealthy family."
Hee-wook looked at Hyun-ji adoringly, as if she were a princess, then turned, wrapping his arm around So-eun's shoulders.
Hyun-ji craned her neck again and asked,
"Oh? Are you leaving with her, Mr. Yang?"
"I'm just seeing her off. Only to the ground floor."
"I'll be sad if you don't come back."
"Okay, okay."
Their conversation continued a few more times, even as they walked further away. Hee-wook only fell silent after they exited the building and were alone, just So-eun and him.
As soon as they reached the first floor, Hee-wook's arm dropped.
"You can go alone, right? Go in quickly. Should I get you a taxi?"
"No, I'll get one myself."
"Okay. Be careful, and call me when you get there. Got it?"
So-eun refused, and Hee-wook turned away without checking on her again.
Thump, thump, thump. Hee-wook's footsteps sounded brisk.
'I'm being kicked out wherever I go today.'
Come to think of it, she hadn't even mentioned the accident at work today.
Her steps were heavy, unwilling, and the world felt like it was swaying. She didn't want to sway. She felt dizzy and nauseous, as if she were on a ship caught in a storm.
Was she only now feeling the effects of the alcohol, as the tension from the bar eased?
No, she had been forcibly resisting the rising intoxication.
\
After So-eun and Hee-wook left, Hyun-ji stared at the exit for a long time before sighing bitterly and muttering to herself.
"I can't understand it. Why does he like someone like that?"
After seeing Han So-eun's face in person, Hyun-ji became even more curious. To what extent would her charms work on Yang Hee-wook?
Would he react if she touched him? How much would he react?
Hyun-ji blinked emotionlessly, sipping her drink. When she got up to go to the restroom, Hee-wook returned. Hyun-ji staggered. Hee-wook rushed over and caught her.
"Careful."
"Ah, Oppa."
Her eyes glazed over, she leaned against Hee-wook and quietly uttered the word, widening Hee-wook's eyes. His face was turning redder and redder, making him almost cute.
"Ah, I'm sorry. It just slipped out. Mr. Yang."
Hyun-ji seemed flustered, straightened up, and hurried to the restroom.
Hee-wook watched Hyun-ji's retreating figure, seemingly embarrassed. His heart was pounding so hard it ached. It was a long-awaited flutter of excitement.
\
Tae-joon arrived at the meeting place and said to his driver,
"Leave the car and go in."
"Yes, sir. Then I'll be on my way."
The driver, sensing the mood, got out of the car with Tae-joon.
Unlike when he had boarded, Tae-joon's expression seemed cold, as if something had upset him on the way to Seoul. He had also abandoned the employee he had offered to take home. This boss seemed polite and courteous, but there was something about him that made you constantly watch your step.
"Then I'll see you tomorrow, Director."
"Yes. Thank you for your hard work."
Tae-joon left with a perfunctory greeting and headed to the meeting place.
Since returning to Korea and starting work, there were many people he had to meet. Having said he would contribute to K Group, he had to fulfill all the schedules his grandfather had arranged. Meeting people and talking about work was tolerable, but the moment the other party showed interest in anything other than work, the meeting quickly became tedious.
Tae-joon dealt with the people appropriately and then left.
As he walked to the parking lot, he thought of the woman he had abandoned on the street about an hour ago. Remembering her smiling face as she unhesitatingly answered yes to the question of whether her boyfriend treated her well, his mouth felt dry again. He sat in the driver's seat, feeling unsettled.
He had returned to Korea a year earlier than planned, curious about one woman.
It turned out she had a partner.
He wasn't particularly surprised by that fact. Honestly, he hadn't thought she wouldn't have a boyfriend with that face.
He was just curious as to why she had joined K Group, whether she had any ulterior motives, and whether she had any shame. He hadn't returned to Korea to cry and reminisce about the past and continue their relationship.
Then shouldn't he just investigate what he was curious about?
What exactly was he dissatisfied with?
Tae-joon, unable to sort out his frustrated feelings, headed aimlessly towards the Court intersection.
Omotesando Hills. Remembering that Han So-eun had mentioned that name, Tae-joon parked his car in a nearby parking lot and walked to the bar.
From a seat far from the entrance of the bar, he could see Yang Hee-wook and a few others who seemed to be his colleagues, making a racket. There was only one woman. It was obviously a gathering of lawyers. Han So-eun was nowhere to be seen.
'Did she already leave?'
Did she just say hello and leave?
Maybe she hasn't arrived yet.
Tae-joon sat near the entrance, listened to the sounds coming from Yang Hee-wook's table for a moment, and then got up. There seemed to be no need to sit there any longer.
As he left the bar and headed back to the parking lot, he unexpectedly found Han So-eun.
Han So-eun came into view as brightly as on that day 20 years ago when they were playing tag.
Sitting on a bench in front of a convenience store, shaking an empty bottle of honey water, Han So-eun called out to him.
"Oh? Director."
Smiling broadly, as if she was happy to see him. Her lips, unusually shiny as if smeared with honey water.
Her face was flushed, so she seemed drunk.
He heard she was going to meet her boyfriend, what had happened in the meantime? Tae-joon hid the fact that he had been to the bar and asked.
"Didn't you have an appointment? Why are you alone?"
"That's right. Why am I alone?"
So-eun, answering blankly, suddenly lowered her head. As if making a shameful confession.
"Actually, I know why I'm alone."
"..."
"I've been abandoned everywhere, so I'm alone."
Feeling a pang of guilt for telling her to get off halfway without taking her to her destination, Tae-joon subtly sat next to So-eun and apologized voluntarily.
"I'm sorry for telling you to get off halfway earlier. I was busy with work and couldn't pay attention."
"I know. I'm so grateful that the Director took me that far. I saved money too."
So-eun waved her hand as if that wasn't it.
"I'm not upset with the Director at all. The Eel rice bowl was so delicious."
Han So-eun, drunk, blurted out even what she hadn't been asked. She looked quite happy as she spoke, even smacking her lips.
"That was the most delicious Eel rice bowl I've ever had in my life."
"Should I buy you another one?"
"No. I'll buy it myself now. With my own money."
"..."
"I took a picture too. To buy it again."
So-eun slowly rummaged through her bag and took out her phone to show the picture of the Eel rice bowl.
"Usually, Eel rice bowl comes with half an eel, right? But this one had a whole eel."
"..."
"The highlight of Eel rice bowl is this rice. If you put the fluffy egg garnish and the eel on top, and take a big spoonful of rice, you wouldn't know how delicious it is. Ah, you know. The Director gave it to me..."
It was funny to see her face relaxed, even in front of her company boss, from how much she had drunk. On the other hand, she looked somehow uneasy, which bothered him. Tae-joon raised and lowered his arm every time So-eun's head tilted to one side.
"Can't you usually drink?"
"No. I usually like it a lot."
"..."
"It's been a really long time. That's why..."
So-eun's voice grew smaller again as she confessed it had been a long time.
She had a smile on her face, but it wasn't a happy one. She looked pitiful and sad.
That child, who shone so brightly, had lost her light.
20 years is that kind of time. It's time that's allowed to be that way, but he somehow didn't like the faded child.
"Where did your boyfriend go? Why are you sitting here alone?"
"No."
"..."
"He's okay now. I wanted to tell this to the Director."
"What?"
"Eel rice bowl."
"..."
"Honestly, I was really scared today? When you said you'd take me to Seoul, I thought I was dead, but that came to mind."
"What?"
"Eel rice bowl."
"..."
"The person who gives you Eel rice bowl can't be a bad person. So I mustered the courage to get in the car."
Tae-joon immediately retorted, finding Han So-eun's theory absurd.
"You don't know life. The person who gives you Eel rice bowl can also be a bad person."
So-eun smiled weakly at Tae-joon's rebuttal.
"I know. I know too. But..."
"..."
"I just want to believe it."
That he's not a bad person.
Haa.
A hot breath, as if tears had vaporized, escaped from her lips.
That all the love I received was real. That it wasn't some kind of condition.
I just wanted to keep believing that. I wanted to be deceived forever if I could. I didn't want to know the truth.
Whose fault is it? I was the one who made the decision.
I gave it because you were a precious person.
I willingly gave a part of myself because I thought giving would make me happier than not giving.
Having given it away first like that, how ugly is it to whine now, asking why love has changed?
Still, I.
"For some people, Eel rice bowl is obvious, right?"
I wanted to eat Eel rice bowl without any conditions.
"For the Director, Eel rice bowl is obvious, right?"
For me, that Eel rice bowl is a precious food that I can only eat if it covers my mother's weekend meals.
I didn't mean to pick a fight with the Director, but I was resentful of those who had what I didn't have for granted.
"I wish I could receive without giving too."
I want to be loved.
I just want to be loved. That's all.
A sigh-like story and a story-like sigh permeated the night air.
So-eun straightened her spine every time she realized her shoulders were drooping. That upright posture looked somehow precarious to Tae-joon. She seemed to be struggling with all her might, as if she would collapse if he touched her.
Every time her white hands fidgeted as she hugged her bag, Tae-joon felt a stinging pain somewhere in his chest.
"I want to whine too."
She whined, saying she wanted to whine.
He had always been a heartless person to the women who whined and clung to him.
He couldn't be lenient with Han So-eun either.
A gloomy face is no fun.
He wasn't the type to sit on the street and listen to a drunken woman's complaints either.
Tae-joon thought he should get up now.
"I want to be comforted without being good at anything."
But he soon sat back down.
"Pat, pat, pat. I want to receive that too. I want to be a princess from a wealthy family."
Her continued complaints were like the mournful cries of a baby bird looking for its mother.
It was a low voice, but it was somehow desperate, and Tae-joon's chest, which had been stinging, gradually became numb.
"I want to be loved while living recklessly."
It was definitely a word that came out of her lips, but somehow it felt like it came out of his own heart.
"I want to be loved..."
Like a snack with a subtly addictive, bland taste, he just watched quietly, even though it wasn't particularly interesting.
