Chapter 3
Han-gyeong was smiling when he saw her.
But it wasn’t the polite smile one would give a civil petitioner. It was a smirk—one filled with ridicule.
“I’m here to get a copy of my resident registration,” Ga-eun said.
At her words, Han-gyeong glanced around before leaning closer toward her.
“You know, it’s easy to print it online or at a self-service machine. No need to come all the way to the district office…”
“Excuse me.”
Ga-eun deliberately called out to him in a voice laced with irritation. His face immediately crumpled.
“Did you come here to beg me to get back together with you?”
“Did someone just bark? These days even bastards bark like humans, huh? Stop talking nonsense and just print my document.”
She held out her ID.
“You really came just for the document?”
“Why are you speaking informally?”
“What kind of relationship do you think we—”
“Wow, this mister is hilarious. I may look young, but I’m still a petitioner. Is it okay for you to talk down to me like that?”
“……”
Crossing her arms, Ga-eun continued,
“Just print the document already. I’m busy.”
“…Yes.”
Han-gyeong took her ID and printed the document before handing it to her.
“It’s a shame cheating records don’t show up on these things. Wouldn’t it be nice if they did? Oh, I needed two copies. Why did you only print one without even asking?”
“Oh—two copies… yes, I’ll print it right away.”
“Please hurry. Why does it take so long just to print one document?”
Han-gyeong’s face had already turned bright red.
If it had been up to him, he would have demanded to know why she was acting like this. But this was his workplace, and Ga-eun was no longer his girlfriend—she was a civil petitioner. He had to maintain proper manners.
And because of that, he was flustered enough to fumble even such a simple task.
“Excuse me.”
“Yes?”
“You could’ve just printed it like you did earlier.”
“…Yes, I’m sorry. Just give me a moment…”
Running a hand across his forehead, Han-gyeong fumbled in embarrassment.
It was a side of him Ga-eun had never seen before.
Jung Han-gyeong had always been the type to act arrogant no matter what he did. Seeing him this flustered made the corners of her lips slowly lift on their own.
“Will I have to wait long?”
“…It’ll be ready soon.”
“I’m very busy right now.”
When Ga-eun’s voice grew louder, an employee seated behind Han-gyeong stood up.
“I’m very sorry. Our employee hasn’t been working here long yet, so he must have caused you inconvenience. I’ll handle it for you instead.”
“Then please make it quick.”
“Yes. Here it is.”
With practiced ease, the employee printed the documents and handed them to Ga-eun with both hands.
“Thank you.”
After thanking him, Ga-eun left the district office.
When she first walked in, she’d wanted to point straight at Han-gyeong’s face and cause the biggest scene imaginable.
But she didn’t.
Because if she did, the one who’d end up looking ridiculous would be her.
[You did that on purpose to screw with me, didn’t you?]
Ga-eun snorted when she read the message Han-gyeong sent.
“I didn’t realize he liked yeot so much. If I’d known, I would’ve fed him tons of it every time we met.”
She read the message but didn’t reply. Soon another one arrived.
[If you have something to say, meet me and say it in person. Don’t pull this cheap stunt at my workplace.]
“You’re the one who can’t do your job properly, and you’re getting mad at me? I’ll never have a reason to see you again. Do you think people avoid shit because they’re scared of it? No—they avoid it because it’s filthy.”
Her phone kept chiming with notifications of new messages, but Ga-eun ignored them and headed home.
Her time was far too precious to waste on a piece of trash like him.
After signing the last approval document, Seok-jin stretched his neck and rolled his head from side to side before lifting his arms high.
A knock sounded, and Secretary Tak entered holding an envelope.
“I exchanged the currency.”
“Thanks.”
“If you could at least tell me which hotel you’ll be staying at and roughly what your schedule will be…”
“I’ll be fine. You should take a break while I’m gone.”
“But sir…”
Today was the day Seok-jin was leaving for vacation.
His summer vacations were a bit unusual.
Unlike other corporate executives who informed their offices of their destination and relied on their secretaries’ assistance, Seok-jin traveled strictly on his own—privately and in secret.
He didn’t even reveal what flight he was taking or where he would stay.
“I’ll be back.”
“Every time you go on vacation like this, it drives me crazy. What if something happens while you’re away? What if there’s an emergency—”
“That’s why I at least tell you where I’m going, Secretary Tak. Isn’t that enough? What more do you want?”
Patting the worried secretary’s shoulder once, Seok-jin left the office.
Dressed in a white T-shirt and cotton pants, he looked less like Joo Seok-jin, the young president of Jushin Retail, and more like an ordinary office worker heading off on vacation.
After taking a taxi to the airport, he sat in the waiting area in front of the boarding gate.
Normally he would’ve used the private departure route, but today he sat among the crowd just like everyone else.
“Forget it. Mom doesn’t even have money for that. Who knows? Maybe I’ll go to Bangkok and meet a handsome guy and fall into a fiery romance… Okay, okay! Can’t I even say that much? What romance could I have in three days anyway? I’d rather die than meet another guy like that bastard Jung Han-gyeong.”
It was a voice he’d heard before.
Coming from somewhere behind him—an unmistakably familiar tone.
It was the voice of the woman named Oh Ga-eun.
“It’s business class, you know. When I make lots of money later, I’ll put you in first class, Mom. Anyway, I have to pick up something I bought from the online duty-free shop. I’ll hang up now.”
As Ga-eun stood up, Seok-jin covered his face with his hand.
He hadn’t done anything wrong, yet he found himself hiding his face while cautiously glancing in her direction.
Was she traveling or running a duty-free reselling business? She was carrying an enormous number of shopping bags filled with duty-free goods.
After looking around, she sat down again on the seat opposite him.
“Damn it. Why is this bastard calling again?”
Apparently filled with anger, Ga-eun added a curse to the end of her sentence as she answered the phone.
“Why?”
Because she was sitting right behind him, Seok-jin could hear the entire conversation clearly without trying.
—What are you doing?
“Why do you care what I’m doing?”
—I was just asking.
“If you’re that curious about someone’s life, call your amazing girlfriend instead.”
—Hey, what girlfriend?
Judging from the conversation alone, they sounded like close friends.
But from the way the man spoke—his voice thick with lingering attachment—it was obvious he still had feelings for her.
“You know, your girlfriend. Want me to call her? Tell her Jung Han-gyeong keeps calling his ex because he’s so bored he’s losing his mind.”
—…When did you find out?
“When doesn’t matter. What matters is that you’re a cowardly bastard who was two-timing me.”
—You knew and pretended not to?
“You’re disappointed? That’s hilarious! Did you enjoy comparing me and that girl like we were on a scale? Must’ve been fun. Honestly, I’d love to bring a bucket of sewage to the district office and dump it on your face—but you’re already human garbage, so I guess that’s unnecessary.”
—Are you done?
“No. I hope you eat plenty of yeot and experience fifty trillion embarrassing moments for the rest of your life, you damn bastard.”
Instead of shouting, Ga-eun spoke calmly, delivering every word she wanted to say.
Ironically, the man yelling on the other end sounded far more agitated.
—Hey, Oh Ga-eun!
“Can you hang up already? I’m traveling with another guy right now.”
—What? You already found another guy? Who is he?
“A good guy. I don’t know where he is, but he’s definitely very big… down there. Bye, Jung Han-gyeong. Tonight’s going to be beautiful, don’t you think? Oh—honey!”
At her words, Seok-jin glanced around slightly, wondering where this “very big guy” was.
But there was no one.
“You’ve worked hard dealing with that trash, Oh Ga-eun. Go get a massage, eat lots of good food, and come back ready to start fresh!”
Watching Ga-eun vent at her pathetic ex-boyfriend, Seok-jin thought she was an interesting woman.
Then again, he’d already thought she wasn’t ordinary when she took 5,000 won from Secretary Tak’s wallet.
Have a nice trip.
As boarding time approached, Seok-jin stood up.
If not for that damn phone call from Jung Han-gyeong at the very end, it would’ve been the perfect start to the trip.
She’d been sick of scraping by for months, so she decided to treat herself with the money she’d saved—plus her severance pay and the refund from the suit she’d bought as a gift for Han-gyeong.
Of course, the only truly luxurious part of the trip was the business-class ticket she’d bought with trembling hands.
“A good beginning makes a good journey—and a good ending.”
Anyone hearing it might think she was crazy.
But she’d always wanted to try it at least once.
Fortunately, the business-class ticket on the Thai airline hadn’t been too expensive.
Maybe because it was Sunday afternoon, there were barely any passengers. As she walked down the business-class boarding lane, she didn’t see a single person.
Weird.
“This makes me feel like I’m doing something insanely extravagant.”
After showing her ticket to the smiling flight attendant, Ga-eun boarded the plane.
A flight attendant placed her duty-free shopping bags into the overhead compartment, and Ga-eun found her seat.
The moment she sat down in the spacious, cozy seat, a smile bloomed across her face without her realizing it.
While she looked around in fascination, the man in the seat beside her calmly read an English newspaper.
Reading a newspaper was already bad enough—but an English one?
A sense of dread crept over her. The flight to Bangkok was just under six hours.
This was going to be uncomfortable.
“Ugh, seriously. What’s wrong with this bastard?”
Han-gyeong was calling again.
After hesitating, she answered, deciding to give him one last proper scolding.
“I told you I’m busy.”
—How long has it been since we broke up? And you’re already seeing another guy? Were you cheating on me?
“You unbelievable jerk. Just because you cheated, you think everyone else does too?”
—Even breakups have etiquette. We were together seven years. At least spend a year grieving the memories.
“Memories, my ass. Say one more stupid thing and I’m calling your girlfriend. The one who works at Jushin Retail!”
Instead of defending himself, Han-gyeong cowardly hung up—like a kid who’d dialed the wrong number.
Had she expected an apology?
Maybe she’d hoped he’d at least make some pathetic excuse.
The absurdity of it made her laugh bitterly.
“My poor ears, thanks for enduring that nonsense…”
As she absentmindedly picked at her ear with her finger, Ga-eun turned her head to the side.
Her hand froze mid-motion.
Her eyes met the expressionless gaze of Seok-jin, who had been looking straight at her.
Why is this man sitting next to me?
She hadn’t told a single soul that President Joo Seok-jin was interviewing women to choose a bride…
Feeling as though her life were in danger, Ga-eun quickly made the most pitiful expression she could.
“I didn’t tell anyone.”
“Tell them what?”
“About the bride interview.”
A smile flickered across Seok-jin’s face.
Ga-eun awkwardly smiled along with him.
“And yet,” he said lightly, “you’re telling me now.”
