I Think I've Poked a Sleeping Bear
Chapter 13
Into the Whirlwind of Fate (That I Created)
Jingle, jingle, jingle.
The shaman shook her brass bells.
At twenty years old, freshly enrolled in college, Dan-a had casually tagged along when a friend mentioned going to get her fortune told.
While she, too, was occasionally curious about what her future might hold, she was never the type to put much faith in four-pillars divination or fortune-telling.
You make your own destiny.
She had always lived her life boldly with that mindset.
And yet.
“You.”
Jingle, jingle, jingle.
The shaman, who had been shaking her bells toward the friend, suddenly pointed a finger at Dan-a.
“Huh? Me?”
“A single word from your mouth will change the world.”
“Excuse me? Mine?”
“You reap what you sow, yet you think you can plant beans and just run away? You think they won’t sprout just because you ran?”
What is she talking about?
“If you did something you need to take responsibility for, you have to face it. You can’t just turn someone else’s life completely upside down and slip away to live happily on your own.”
What on earth does that even mean?
“Um, Ma’am… I’m sorry, but I’m just a freshman who just entered college, and I want to live a very quiet life—in fact, I’m already living quietly. How could someone like me change the world—?”
“That mouth!”
At the shaman’s sharp bark, Dan-a reflexively clamped a hand over her mouth.
“All of history will begin from that mouth of yours.”
Isn’t she just telling me to watch what I say?
“Then what am I supposed to do? Stop talking altogether?”
The shaman stared at Dan-a with eyes that looked as if they were divulging the secrets of heaven. Then, with absolute gravity, she parted her lips.
“If you can’t avoid it, enjoy it.”
Inside the whirlwind of fate you created.
“What?”
“That’s all I have to say. Now leave. I’m tired. I need to sleep.”
The shaman promptly left the room.
Enjoy it if you can’t avoid it?
That meant it was unavoidable.
Unavoidable?
Just what, what on earth couldn’t she avoid?
.
.
‘It’s the President! The person I like!’
‘What is it about me that you like so much, Lee Dan-a-ssi?’
‘I heard the President broke off his engagement.’
.
.
No.
That couldn’t be it.
That made no sense.
“Dan-a. Dan-a?”
“N-no…”
“Dan-a!”
No!
“Gasp, pant, pant.”
At Yunseo’s call, Dan-a snapped back to reality.
“Did you… just fall asleep standing up? Right in the middle of brewing coffee?”
“Huh? Me…?”
Dan-a glanced down at where she was standing. She was in front of the coffee machine, and the coffee had already finished dripping.
Yunseo looked at her with concern.
“Why are you sweating so much? Are you sick? Did you eat something bad for lunch?”
“N-no. Just…”
She remembered. What the shaman had told her at the fortune teller’s house she’d visited with her friend when she was twenty.
A story she had completely brushed off and forgotten because it sounded so absurd.
‘All of history will begin from that mouth of yours.’
Why was that prophecy coming back to haunt her so acutely now?
Especially when everything had just been proven false.
“So the rumor about the broken engagement really was just a hoax, right?”
Inside the break room, the Public Relations Office staff were gathered, chatting away.
They were comrades-in-arms who had fought tooth and nail for the past few days defending against the storm on social media, portal news sites, and online communities.
“That’s what they say. Looks like Bear Group got jealous and pulled some strings. Even for a rival company, that’s such a petty move.”
Indeed. Fortunately, the broken engagement was nothing more than a baseless rumor.
A press release had come down directly from the Chairman’s Secretariat, and Dongyeon Group had published an article stating the rumors were completely unfounded at the same time.
“Sigh, what a shame.”
Eavesdropping on the staff’s conversation, Yunseo sighed regretfully beside Dan-a.
“What is?”
“The President. When I heard the engagement was off, I was secretly thrilled.”
“Why would you be?”
“Why else? Because of you.”
Why am I being brought into this?
“Because you’ve been having such a hard time. Having to give up your feelings not because you stopped liking him, but because he’s marrying someone else… that’s just so heartbreaking.”
Right, Yunseo. That was how I had to let Ji-hoon go.
Because he’s marrying you.
Of course, she hadn’t even had time to be sad about it.
Thanks to the President, her head had been spinning too fast.
“Yeah… I really hope our President finds true happiness.”
Dan-a turned her head away and covered her mouth with her hand.
“What is it, Lee Dan-a? Take your hand down. You’re crying again, aren’t you? You’re crying, right?”
“N-no. I’m not crying.”
“Goodness, what am I going to do with you? Just how much do you like him?”
Yunseo’s heart ached for her, but Dan-a couldn’t bring herself to lower her hand.
Because she was grinning.
Ha, please. Dear President.
Since you cleared up my heartbreak in one fell swoop, I hope you receive countless blessings in life.
So why does there have to be so much drama around you, why!
If she could, she wanted to grab him by the collar and beg him to just get married quietly and quickly.
“Sigh, honestly. What are we going to do with your unrequited love? If only the broken engagement had been real.”
“What? Don’t say such terrifying things! Ptu, ptu, ptu. Don’t you dare utter another word like that, got it?”
Because it felt like she was going to have a real nightmare.
No, it felt like she was already living in one.
‘All of history will begin from that mouth of yours.’
A sudden, chilling sensation crept down her spine.
“P-President?”
Heading toward the bus stop to go home, Dan-a froze in her tracks.
Lee Heon was standing before her, looking as strikingly handsome as ever.
He checked his wristwatch.
“I’ve been waiting since six o’clock sharp just in case, and you really did step out right on time.”
Gasp.
“I didn’t leave before quitting time! I walked out right when the clock hit six. Is… is this going to affect my performance review?”
“That is not my department.”
“Ah… thank goodn— Wait, what are you doing here?”
“I was waiting for you, Lee Dan-a-ssi.”
“For… me?”
“I was worried I might miss you. Get in.”
What? Ride in the President’s car again?
She had already ridden in the May*ach once, so her curiosity there had been satisfied…
Wait, that’s a Fer*ari… isn’t it?
He held the passenger door of the Fer*ari open, waiting for her.
Judging by the absence of a chauffeur, it seemed to be his personal vehicle.
Everyone, details on the Fer*ari will be omitted. But really…
Could anyone possibly refuse to get into this?
“Um, excuse me, then.”
She climbed into the car with utmost decorum. With a gentle smile, he leaned over and fastened her seatbelt for her.
“Make yourself comfortable.”
How could I possibly be comfortable?
It’s not just any car, it’s a Fer*ari.
She rested her hands neatly on her lap in a reverent posture.
As the car pulled away, Dan-a’s eyes darted around the interior.
To think she was experiencing the world of the ultra-rich, something she had only ever heard about in stories.
At this rate, was she going to have an envelope of cash thrown in her face with a demand to ‘Stay away from my son’?
Or would his fiancée show up to see what kind of woman had seduced her man?
Haha, that’s actually hilarious.
“Did you run into any trouble today?”
“Pardon?”
Oops. The President had initiated the conversation again.
She hurriedly gathered her wandering thoughts.
“It’s like that every day, but I’m doing fine.”
“Is that so? Nothing unusual happened?”
“No, nothing in partic— Ah, rumors about your broken engagement suddenly started circulating in the stock market blind items, so I was a bit frantic trying to counter them. I am on the Saja Group Crisis Management Team, after all.”
“……”
He had asked if anything happened, and since it sounded like he wanted a status update, she had answered truthfully—but maybe she shouldn’t have. It was a rumor about him, so of course it wouldn’t put him in a good mood.
Come to think of it, his expression seemed to have hardened slightly.
How do I lighten the mood? The mood, the mood…
“Phew, it was such a relief when it turned out to be fake news. We’re suspecting Bear Group was behind spreading the rumors, though.”
“It’s not fake news.”
“Ah, is that so—?”
“And it’s not a baseless rumor.”
“Oh, I see…”
“It’s true. The engagement is broken.”
Dan-a, who had been nodding along absentmindedly, suddenly widened her eyes.
“What?”
“I’m not getting married to Dongyeon Group.”
What… what did that mean?
It wasn’t fake news? The engagement was really broken? He wasn’t getting married?
“Why… why?!”
Dan-a blurted out before she could stop herself. He turned his head to look at her. Then, with a remarkably calm, matter-of-fact face, he spoke.
“You said you hated being a side piece.”
“Huh? What did you say?”
“Didn’t you say you refused to be a mistress, Lee Dan-a-ssi? That’s why I broke off the engagement.”
‘All of history will begin from that mouth of yours.’
“Wait! President, pull over for a second!”
