"Mikyung, can you come shopping with me after school?" Seolhee asked as they walked to their statistics class together. It was Friday again, another week had passed. She'd told Seolhee about her part-time job and said that she'd only be free on Fridays to hang out. She hoped that Seolhee hadn't taken this to mean that she was free every Friday.
"Um..." she said, not really wanting to. It wasn't like she'd have the money to afford to buy anything at any of the stores she assumed Seolhee would be going to.
"I need opinions," Seolhee was saying. "You see, Sunwoo and I have to go to this business party my mom is hosting next week. I need you to help me pick out a dress. Normally, I'd go with him... but I want it to be a surprise, you know? What do you say? Will you come?"
"Okay," Mikyung said after a moment, knowing that her mom would want her to go have fun. "But I can't stay for too long," she said. "I have to go somewhere..." she trailed off, not wanting to explain any further.
Seolhee nodded in understanding. "Okay, I'll try to be quick. Let's go!"
***
"Seolhee?"
Mikyung and Seolhee both looked up from the cash register. Seolhee had just bought a dress and they'd been planning to go to the mall's food court to eat.
"Is that my ex-fiancé?" Seolhee said playfully, grabbing her bag and running up to the man who'd called her name, giving him a big hug.
The man ruffled her hair, grinning at her, his eyes teasing. "Missed me?"
"Terribly," Seolhee said, sighing and placing her hand on her heart. "Will you take me back?" she asked, winking.
"As I recall, you were the one who didn't want to marry me," the man said, frowning at Seolhee, though his eyes were still sparkling with laughter.
Mikyung awkwardly stood a few paces away, feeling confused. This man used to be... Seolhee's fiancé? But they were both so young. And also, wasn't Seolhee dating Sunwoo?
She scratched her head, trying to figure it all out.
"Come, meet my friend," Seolhee said, grabbing the man's hand and leading him over. "This is Mikyung. And Mikyung, this is Hyunjae. My ex-fiancé."
"You're ex-fiancé," Mikyung repeated dumbly, staring at the man in front of her. He was handsome. Really, really handsome.
"It's a pleasure to meet you," he said kindly, flashing her a charming smile.
Mikyung blushed. "You too," she mumbled, looking down at the floor then casting her gaze to Seolhee, wanting to ask a bunch of questions but worried that she would be overstepping.
"Our parents wanted us to get married," Seolhee explained, seeing her confused expression. "For business purposes."
Mikyung nodded, though she still felt slightly confused.
"Do you have time?" Seolhee asked Hyunjae, linking her arm with his. "Why don't you treat us to lunch at the food court?"
"I always have time to treat two pretty ladies to lunch," he said, winking at them and beginning to lead the way.
"I bet reporters will have a fun time today," Seolhee joked, her eyes laughing as she looked at Mikyung.
But Mikyung couldn't understand the joke, so she just frowned. "What?" she asked. "What do you mean about reporters?"
Hyunjae stopped walking and looked at her curiously. "Here, I'll show you," he said, stepping forward and pulling himself out of Seolhee's grasp, pulling up some articles on his phone before handing it to Mikyung.
Mikyung scrolled through the articles, her eyes widening in shock as she saw the titles. There were countless rumors about Seolhee. It was kind of ridiculous. But most of all, many articles were ridiculing her and accusing her of cheating on Sunwoo with her ex-fiancé. Many others were accusing her of leading Hyunjae on.
"Isn't it ridiculous?" Seolhee asked, laughing. "Everyone knew our marriage was going to be for business purposes," she said, glancing at Hyunjae and rolling her eyes. "We were never in love. Everyone knew that. I don't understand why they can't figure out that we're really just friends," she said, shaking her head in disappointment. "Anyway, I'm starving, so let's go," she said, linking her arms with both Hyunjae and Mikyung this time, and leading them towards food.
