High on You (Choi Do Il x Oh In Joo - Little Women 작은 아씨들)

12

25 DAYS UNTIL THE GRAND GALA BALL

That same client, who had been begging to meet with him for almost a month now, still hadn't reached out to Do-il to schedule a meeting, and the situation was starting to worry the man, who had invested quite a lot of time in this new project of theirs and was now afraid they'd back out without paying him the amount of money owed. So, he decided to take the reins of the game and called the number that was saved in his address book under the name "Project Butterfly." After a couple of rings, a crystal-clear voice answered.
"Yes?"
"Good morning. This is Choi Do-il, the financial advisor. I'm in charge of your latest project, Project Butterfly." Pragmatic, concise.
"Good morning, sir. How nice to hear from you again! Have you changed your number? I see a Korean area code; can I take this as a sign that you've moved here?"
Do-il covered the transmitter with his fingers and let out a long sigh, soon carried away by the north wind that was gently making its way across the suite's balcony.
"I'd say you've interpreted perfectly, Mrs. Park. I have been in Seoul for about three days. I was calling to see if you felt like planning a meeting, like you had suggested a while ago. At least we could see the documents together, and you could ask me any questions you think necessary."
"That would be great," the woman said, but something in her tone soon made Do-il realize that the sentence would continue with a 'but', "but right now my staff and I are out of the country. We'll be back in a few days. What if we could meet in... let's say...?" His interlocutor took a few seconds, probably, as the man imagined, to scroll through her planner and find an empty space where she could make time for an appointment. The Korean work environment may still have been dominated by men, but career women were really invested, and their planners usually showed it. "Could we meet not next Monday but the one after that again?" That means, thought Do-il, in two weeks. He would surely have enough time to organize and print all the documents he would need by then.
"That actually sounds great," he said to the woman on the phone, "can't wait to meet with you and your collaborators. The project on paper is really promising, but I'd like to know more about it before I can make clear-cut predictions."
"Of course, I'd never ask you to give me false hopes or wrong data. Everything needs to be precise and transparent. I don't want any surprises around the corner, if you know what I mean." Oh, I know about surprises. They then proceeded to say their goodbyes, and Do-il hung up.

***

It was around lunchtime when Do-il realized he still hadn't bought enough food to peacefully eat in his room while working. "I really need to do some food shopping, I can't run on noodles forever." With that thought in mind, he decided to go out and eat something at a café where he could still work some numbers in tranquillity. He headed out, and after walking for about 20 minutes, he found this little jungle-like café that still had a couple of empty seats. He sat down and waited for a waiter to take his order.
"Can I get you anything?" a woman said. A foreign woman, he guessed without even looking up. He was closing up some documents when the waitress appeared in front of him, and she clearly had a foreign accent.
She took his order with a smile on her face and then walked away behind the counter. Do-il leaned against the back of the chair and craned his neck in a vain attempt to make it crack. If you'll ever see her again, I do hope you'll be brave enough to face the consequences of your actions. His mother's words came back to him. She had a point; he was an adult and had been facing the consequences of his actions for a while, but this aspect of his life caught him unprepared. His love life had never been lively, and the quick Greek adventures had proved it. Just the thought of having to talk to In-joo made his pulse race.
He thought of those last moments at the airport before he left for the longest five years of his life. I'll see you again. Those had been his words. To be completely honest, Do-il had made no other promise. He hadn't told her when they would meet again. He hadn't told her he'd keep in touch. He had simply stated they would meet again.
And they did.
"Oh, for goodness' sake, can you just stop making sorry-ass excuses?" He whispered to himself without realizing that someone else was within earshot.
"You okay, sir?" The foreign and very blonde waitress was back with his chicken breast, rice, and kimchi.
"Yes, everything's fine, thank you."
"Cause... as far as I know, talking to yourself isn't exactly the norm."
"Talking to a stranger like you're doing isn't 'the norm' here, but here we are." To his massive surprise, the girl, probably in her twenties, burst out laughing. He had been rude quite intentionally, and her reaction left him quite speechless.
"If I tell you my name, we should be good, right? Etiquette is still a mystery to me, sorry if I offended you."
"None taken. It doesn't truly change things, but it's a step."
"Rita, from Italy."
"Hi Rita."
"You... your name, sir?"
"I don't feel comfortable enough to share it." Rita gaped at his words but soon recoiled.
"I guess I make the perfect therapist, then, if you want to talk about what's on your mind, sir."
Was this girl for real? Meanwhile, Do-il's chicken was getting cold.
"Shouldn't you be working?"
"I'm actually on my lunch break, and... don't get me wrong, but you truly look like someone who's in need of venting, look at it this way," she needled, "as you said, I'm just a random stranger. We'll probably never cross paths again... unless you're used to coming here often; in that case, well..." she stopped and shook her head, she was losing her train of thoughts. "I can just listen and give you input if you want it."
It was Do-il's turn to gape at her. "Why?" He was very, very confused. He'd met a lot of foreigners in the past five years, but not even one nearly as noisy as this one.
"I need to practice my Korean, obviously. I don't get a lot of chances to talk to people, and you're the first one to not overreact. And thank you for that. And at the same time, you can get a weight off your chest. That's a win-win kinda situation, right?"
"It's not a wonder they're 'overreacting'; you lack social skills, not the language." He sighed and finally decided to bite into his lunch.
"So... who's the person?"
Do-il stopped mid-chew. She really wasn't going to let go unless he gave her something. He swallowed and then started facing one of the worst decisions of his life. Giving insight to the Italian girl.
"I promised someone I would see them again in the future, but then I cut communications for five years. Last night, I ran into them, and they've run away."
"No shi- Sorry, sorry. It's no surprise, I guess." She replied with a sly little smile.
"I've never specified when, though. Doesn't that count?"
"You were right, sir. That's just a sorry-ass excuse, if you ask me."
He was already regretting this decision.

***

He had to admit one thing: lunch had been interesting. Rita had said something interesting toward the end of that torture, "Are they a rational type of person?" He had lifted a brow and said that the person was in the middle of the spectrum. In-joo had been driven by emotions the whole time, but when it had come to scheming and putting up little plays, she had been incredibly lucid and calculating.
"They'll understand, then. Eventually. After you give them some time. Maybe a lot of time? I really hope it'll work out for you. You look like you're really in love."
"Who's said anything about love?" he had interjected, as his voice had taken a baffled-like note.
"Please." After that, she had glanced at her phone and announced that her break was over.
He had spent the rest of the afternoon out in the streets of Seoul, looking for new agencies to connect with, both to find new clients and new real estate opportunities to share with old clients. At some point, at about six in the afternoon, he had felt exhausted from walking around all day and in dire need of a drink. He had gotten into a shiny new pub that he didn't remember being there the last time he'd been on that same avenue. And that pub was exactly where he had stayed for the past thirty minutes, sipping on a green bottle of soju, looking at nothing but the shelves full of liquor bottles behind the bar counter.
Then he felt it. It was just like a finger was pocking his left shoulder. Turn around, it said. At first, he resisted giving in to the temptation of the voice inside his head. Then, however, he heard a familiar voice. All of Seoul knew that voice now, which had become famous for shedding light on the Jeongran Society, clearing up the case on the Bobae Savings Bank, and unmasking who the real killers of the situation had been.
In-kyung's words reached his ears, and the finger that was pocking his shoulder just moments earlier was now turning his head for him. There they were, the two sisters. In-joo had a bottle of soju in her hands, whereas In-kyung was holding a glass full of what looked like orange juice.
Crossing paths with people, he was good at it.
And he reckoned that he had to master the art of fully facing his decisions sooner rather than later. Because In-kyung started laughing at something In-joo had said, and in doing so, she leaned to the side. She opened her eyes to wipe away her laugh-induced tears, and they lined up perfectly with Do-il's.

________________________________________________________________________________

Hello hello, you beautiful engaged readers!
How are you?
I just wanted to ask you some 'engagement-friendly' questions, if you'd like to comment something (I'd really love to read your thoughts!):
- How's this fanfic making you feel?
- Who's your favorite character so far?
- What do you think will happen next? 

Extra author note for those of you who HAVEN'T read Hurts so Good (my first work):
Rita is a side character in that fanfic and is the owner of a karaoke pub in San Jose! Despite her young age, she's a successful business woman, who's looking to expand her signature karaoke pub in Korea. That's why she moved to Seoul (even if for a short period of time).
Will we see her again? Who knows.

XOXO

Dawn