02. In a Dream
A pitch-black night. Pure white cherry blossom petals were pouring down over the hood of the car.
Amidst that unrealistic landscape, which looked as though someone had scattered white paint or like an unseasonable snow was falling, a tall man was standing.
As if his closely cropped hair felt awkward, he repeatedly stroked the back of his head before abruptly kicking a pebble that caught his toe.
“Fuck.”
It was the exact moment a scenery that resembled a masterpiece painting transformed into a scene from a noir film.
Tilting his head back to spit out curses and rubbing the soles of his shoes against the asphalt had been going on for tens of minutes. Just as another vulgar curse was about to burst from his mouth, he finally appeared.
A man clothed in dazzlingly white golf wear, with a body as sleek as a well-bred stallion—Guk Geon-woo.
“Wow…… Did you eat your sense of time for breakfast? Seriously, what should we do with this tactless General Manager bastard?”
“I wonder when my secretary’s way of speaking will ever become pretty.”
His tone, which calmly brushed off the insolent insubordination, and his excessively leisurely stride for someone who had kept someone waiting, clearly revealed that he held the upper hand.
“That’s why I said I wouldn’t do it. In the first place, I’m not cut out for this kind of suit, you know?”
“I don’t think that’s something to say for someone whose eyes flared crimson while haggling to raise their annual salary.”
Though it was unclear whether they were on good terms, thick gray cigarette smoke soon bloomed between the two men, whose employment relationship was certain.
It was in front of The General Plan, a private clubhouse operated under a strict, limited membership system.
Chairmen of corporations with market caps exceeding tens or hundreds of trillions, or their successors. Political figures, high-ranking officials, and occasionally celebrities who had amassed unrivaled wealth and fame through their own efforts—a place where the highest echelon of the upper class frequented solely for ‘pleasure’.
God knows what kind of stunts they pulled inside; everyone looked immaculate when entering, but by the time they came out, it was common for their eyes to be unfocused or flushed red.
Yet, only Guk Geon-woo was different. He always had a face like someone who had just walked out of a boring performance. It would be accurate to say that his utterly dry gaze had not been amused for a single moment in that place.
“Ah. I saw someone being carried out earlier?”
“Wherever you go, there are always people who just have to try crossing the line they shouldn’t cross.”
“Seriously, tsk.”
Standing side by side, they gazed at the clubhouse’s symbol and silently inhaled smoke for a while.
The stone statue erected to make it look like an ordinary clubhouse was, of all things, in the shape of a horse. A horse without a bridle. No matter who had chosen it, everyone chatted like it was a joke, calling it an excellent choice.
Around the time the cigarette burned short, Geon-woo suddenly reached out his arm, stroked his secretary’s rough back of the head, and spoke.
“So, Secretary Yang. The task I ordered?”
The man roughly slapped away the hand that was casually fumbling with him and shoved forward a tablet along with a curse.
There were a total of ten photos contained within it. They were photos taken by time slot, as if summarizing someone’s day. From bright morning to pitch-black night, the person in the photos was making various expressions, completely unaware that she was being photographed.
Scanning through those photos with a seemingly indifferent face, Geon-woo slightly furrowed his brow at the last page. It was a scene of a man and a woman intimately linking arms and entering a hotel.
“Don’t the two of them look incredibly good together? Right now, they’re having a birthday party in the lounge.”
Perhaps because of the light reflected from the screen, Geon-woo’s face looked as pale as a corpse.
“Are you going?”
When no answer returned from Geon-woo, the man shook his head side to side, only to nod it again soon after.
“Right. You have to go. You have to go and do some more foolish shit again, right? Huh?”
This time too, Geon-woo had no answer. He only returned a gaze that seemed to ask why he was asking when he already knew.
At that, the man clicked his tongue as if fed up, and ultimately punched the air while muttering curses under his breath.
The lounge on the top floor of the JW Hotel was an entirely different world.
Outside the window, Seoul’s brilliant night view stretched out like the Milky Way, while an aurora made of lighting flowed across the ceiling, and on the stage, a pianist in a backless dress was playing passionately. In short, a dazzling space where one didn’t know where to cast their eyes.
“Thanks for coming, Lee-yeon.”
“Of course I should come.”
Clink. The long-necked champagne glasses collided, making a clear sound.
The attention of those around them focused on the man and woman exchanging subtle glances that could easily pass between lovers.
Jeong Si-heon and Lee-yeon. The romantic relationship between the third-generation chaebol, who had recently become the owner of the JW Group hotel chain, and the model who had suddenly appeared one day like a comet, was already an open secret in this industry.
From the day they were caught together, rumors spread like wildfire, and since neither of them actively denied it, it was as good as official.
Whether the relationship between the two was a real romance or a common sponsorship, people didn’t particularly care to know the truth. They merely consumed it as entertaining gossip. Their relationship was nothing more than a light topic of conversation along the lines of, ‘That’ diamond-spoon guy took ‘that’ famous model for himself.
“How much longer do I need to stay?”
“About thirty minutes? Our director’s lackey hasn’t arrived yet. Are you tired?”
“A little.”
However, all of this was fake.
It was nothing but a perfect act; Jeong Si-heon and Lee-yeon were in a business relationship, cooperating to get what each of them wanted.
“Lee-yeon. I’ll go take a phone call real quick.”
Jeong Si-heon had a woman he truly loved. He said she was a lover he had finally won after a long time of unrequited love.
He was currently consolidating his position to protect his real lover, and during that time, he was using ‘Lee-yeon’ as a shield to blind and deafen the elders of his family and the public. Of course, Lee-yeon was also cooperating for a certain reason.
“But stop drinking that. It has a pretty high alcohol content, you know?”
“Is that so?”
While she was wondering because it was the sweetest and most refreshing champagne she had ever tasted, Jeong Si-heon spoke with an exaggeratedly serious face.
“Lee-yeon. You have to be careful of things that are excessively sweet. No matter what it is.”
His eyes, which had been feigning maturity, quickly curved with playfulness, but it seemed the words he spoke were no joke.
“I definitely warned you, right?”
As a result, it ended up looking as though Lee-yeon had ignored his warning.
Meaning, she had become completely wasted.
It was halfway intentional. Because the memories that kept unfolding even when she tried to fold them away were too burdensome, she wanted to lose her mind, even if she had to borrow the power of alcohol. Coincidentally, the champagne was sweet and delicious, so her hand kept reaching for it.
“Mmm……”
Every time a corner of her chest ached, she took sip after sip, and before she knew it, there were several empty glasses.
At some point, Lee-yeon realized that her blurred vision was no longer clearing up.
Am I…… a little drunk?
Belatedly feeling a sense of crisis, she looked around for Jeong Si-heon, but he was nowhere to be seen, having already left.
She couldn’t even tell how much time had passed. Putting strength into her waist which was about to collapse, she pulled out her phone, but of all things, the battery was dead. While sinking into a sense of frustration, Lee-yeon discovered a black card on top of the bar counter.
When did he leave this?
Since Jeong Si-heon had provided her with a hotel room before, she recognized right away that it was a room key. The only problem was that she had absolutely no recollection of him leaving this behind, nor any memory of him telling her to stay the night.
In any case, she was glad that she wouldn’t have to cause a nuisance by calling back her manager who had already gone home for the day.
However, was it too early to feel relieved? The moment she thought she was saved, her drunken body and mind began to collapse at a terrifying speed.
Lee-yeon quickly scooped up the card and slipped out of the place. However, holding herself upright with sheer willpower lasted only until she reached the front of the elevator.
“Is it the 20th floor……? 23rd? 28th? What is written on this……?”
Because the numbers written on the card key weren’t clearly visible, she brought it right in front of her nose, but it was still difficult to distinguish.
It seemed she was going to pay dearly for disregarding it as just sweet champagne.
“I’m in big trouble, seriously.”
Yet, strangely enough, laughter came out.
Even when she bit her lips hard, a silly laugh kept leaking out anyway. Is this how everyone is when they get thoroughly wasted on liquor? Just as she thought this wouldn’t do and firmly pressed her hand against her lips to block it.
“Ah.”
Her ankle twisted, and her vision shook violently.
Thinking she was doomed to fall, she quickly extended her arm, and fortunately, she managed to grab hold of something, avoiding a disaster.
“Hmm?”
It was only later that she realized what she had grabbed was another person’s arm.
After discovering that the owner of that solid arm—which she would have believed if someone told her it was a pillar—was wearing jet-black dress shoes.
“Ah……. I’m sorry……”
Because her head felt too heavy, she bowed deeply while staring only at the tips of his dress shoes, only to stagger again, and while trying to stand up straight, she staggered once more. While she was floundering around as if performing slapstick comedy all by herself, her savior continued to help her without saying a single word.
But because of that silence, her embarrassment doubled.
“I’m sorry……. Ah, thank you.”
It was when Lee-yeon barely managed to straighten her body on the third try that a voice mixed with a sigh was heard.
“Why are you alone?”
It was a voice as solid and dry as the hand that had supported her waist to stand her up.
What did she say back to that? Did she say she was fine even if she was alone, or did she ask back if she wasn’t allowed to be alone?
From the moment she tried to push him away out of a suddenly surging sense of wariness only to stagger heavily once more, her consciousness began to blink like a broken fluorescent light.
Flicker, flicker—every time she closed and opened her eyes, her field of vision would change.
One moment it was entirely golden everywhere, then a flashy pattern was visible, only to turn pitch-black soon after.
Because the scenery in front of her eyes kept changing, she would flounder around in fright, but soon a dependable arm would support her securely, giving her a sense of stability. Then, she would feel relieved, as if she were cradled in the arms of someone familiar.
Eventually, from the moment she was buried atop clouds as white and fluffy as whipped cream, her consciousness faded completely.
“Mmm……”
She only remembered that the soft sensation wrapping around her exhausted body felt too good.
With her fading vision, she could see her shoes rolling around on the floor, but she couldn’t distinguish whether it was a dream or reality. In her hazy state, she simply kept feeling like someone was beside her, but her eyelids were too heavy.
“Phew……”
Whenever her tension unraveled completely, there was a face that arose without fail.
I miss you, but I can’t see you. As she quietly dwelled on that image, which was now close to an illusion, it was an easy thing to manufacture the presence of someone who wasn’t there through her imagination.
……How nice would it be if it were really you. How nice would it be if you were truly by my side right now.
At the mere imagination, the corners of her eyes grew hot, and at the same time, a silly laugh leaked out again.
What’s so funny? A low, deep voice was heard. A voice much thicker and more mature than the one she remembered.
Today’s imagination is quite plausible.
“You……”
Right. Let’s just think that you came. That you came to visit me in my dream after such a long time.
“Why are you so late……”
Thinking that the warmth touching her crawling fingertips was truly yours, the emotions she had painfully suppressed all day overflowed like a burst dam.
“How long…… do you think I’ve waited for you……”
Is it because she was completely drunk that she felt as though she was genuinely holding your hand today?
San.
“Don’t go……”
Don’t leave me behind all by myself. Please.
