Although Wednesday was originally a day to go to school for lectures, it was cancelled due to a professor’s seminar scheduled after the exams.

At the same time, it was also the day I had planned to go to the SJ Hotel restaurant with friends.

The meeting time was in the evening, but Yoo In, who left home after having a light late breakfast, stopped by a large bookstore near her house for the first time in a while to look at new releases and talk on the phone with Yoo Jin.

“Mom was asking why you’re not answering calls or coming over.”

-It’s because I’m busy. I’ve been hectic these days.

“Didn’t you just finish drama filming recently? Are you already doing your next project without resting?”

-Of course I want to rest. But they’re running me ragged with advertisements and meetings. Today I was dragged out for a meeting with some film director.

“Ah… really?”

Yoo In already knew that her elder sister’s next work would be a film.

He said in the palace-like hall that he had found a scenario that matched very well with the image elder sister was pursuing, and if things went smoothly, it could become her life’s work.

What was it again, an opportunity to become the nation’s first love?

-Yeah. I’m stressed… Little sister, what are you up to? Not going to class?

“I’m at the bookstore now.”

-Not going to school? Aren’t you being too brazen skipping class to the person paying your tuition?

There was no hint of criticism in her scolding words.

Rather, Yoo Jin giggled at the end as if she found it amusing that Yoo In wasn’t going to school.

“I have a free period today. Don’t worry, I’m not skipping frivolously.”

-Okay, study hard to make the money spent worthwhile. Your elder sister is working her bones off to pay for it. Ah, if only I didn’t have this meeting, I could take Nam Yoo In shopping.

“Ugh… leave me out of it. Go with Jae Hee.”

-Right, it’s been a while since I saw Jae Hee and Ji Han too. Oh, hey. I have to hang up now. Say hi to your friends for me and tell Mom I’ll visit soon!

The call ended before she could even reply.

Just before it cut off, the low voice calling her elder sister sounded familiar – perhaps that man went to the meeting with her too.

Today was the first day she didn’t receive a message from the man.

As if she had gotten used to checking for messages that arrived first thing in the morning, Yoo In was curious about the quiet man at that moment.

“…”

He could be busy, being a working person. Plus, as a director at a major agency, he must be busy of course.

Yoo In tried to convince herself as she opened the book she had just picked up, but she couldn’t focus and soon lost her train of thought.

But, is he busy from the morning? Usually messages come around 8, so was he busy from then? From such an early hour? Too busy to even write a single text?

No matter how much she wondered internally, it was a question she couldn’t answer, but chains of thoughts kept linking together.

Thud-.

Yoo In put the book she was holding back in its place.

It seemed today was not the right day to satisfactorily enjoy her only pleasure of book shopping.

****

At Ji Han’s message to come down to the underground parking lot, Yoo In checked her appearance in front of the entrance.

A black cardigan over a jacquard dress with a vibrant floral pattern. Black-toed flat shoes.

All items her elder sister had pushed on her, not Yoo In’s usual style, but she tried to match Han Jae Hee’s cute order to dress to the dress code well.

Jae Hee would surely nag that she should have worn heels as soon as she saw her, but Yoo In didn’t want to handle high heels on top of this flashiness.

Yoo In tidied her long wavy hair once more and left the house.

“Hey, Nam Yoo In! You should wear heels with that dress, what are you doing!”

Sure enough, as soon as she got into the car waiting underground, Jae Hee’s scolding from the front seat could be heard.

Amused by her friend’s reaction without the slightest error, Yoo In smiled slightly and replied.

“I don’t have dress shoes at home.”

“Nam Yoo In, you’re not even good at lying. I know your elder sister buys them for you all the time, why are you fibbing?”

Yoo In laughed off the continued nagging and peeked her head out between the console to examine the two looking at her.

Not only Jae Hee whose job was modeling, but Ji Han also looked much more dashing than when he was in school, wearing a neat shirt and slacks with his usually down hair styled up.

Yoo In smiled brightly at the pale face staring intently at her.

“Yoon Ji Han. You look handsome today.”

“Thanks. You look really pretty today too.”

Ji Han’s delicately smiling face seemed to turn a bit red, but it wasn’t certain in the dim lighting of the underground parking lot.

Just then, Jae Hee let out a huge shout as if having a fit.

“Wow, are you two blatantly excluding me? Tell me I’m pretty too! Say I look good, hurry!”

“Oh, of course our model Han Jae Hee is pretty and cool too.”

When Yoo In said playfully while scrunching her nose, Jae Hee pouted as if hurt.

“Nam Yoo In. Don’t leave me out from now on. I really get hurt… Hey. Yoon Ji Han. Why are you quiet? You hurry up and say it too.”

Jae Hee tapped Ji Han’s shoulder, but ignoring it as if he couldn’t feel or hear it, Ji Han adjusted the rearview mirror and winked at the back seat.

“Alright, we’re leaving. Yoo In, fasten your seatbelt.”

The inside of the car Ji Han occasionally brought out was never quiet until they arrived at the hotel.

Since the new year, Jae Hee had been busy with her own work, and it was Ji Han’s first semester back after being discharged from the military, so the number of times the three got together had decreased significantly, so there was a lot of pent-up chatter.

Listening to Jae Hee’s playlist while laughing and talking nonstop, they soon arrived in front of the hotel.

As they got out of the car, seeing Ji Han hand over the car to valet as if he’d done it many times, Yoo In and Jae Hee laughed and said simultaneously:

“Ooh. Yoon Ji Han~.”

“Ooh. Looks like you frequent hotels a lot, Mr. Yoon Ji Han~.”

“Ah, what are you saying. Stop saying weird things and go in.”

Ji Han frowned with a disgusted look and entered through the automatic doors first, and Yoo In and Jae Hee who were laughing behind followed him.

Entering the lobby, the huge indoor fountain made of black marble was the first thing visible, and Ji Han was waiting for the two next to it.

“I can’t get used to this fountain no matter how many times I see it. Isn’t it too big to be in a hotel lobby?”

Jae Hee murmured quietly as they looked up at the fountain side by side.

Yoo In replied “I know right” as she gazed at the streams of water flowing down the layered marble.

Come to think of it, this was the hotel where that director had called her.

When she first came, she didn’t even know there was such a large fountain. She didn’t want to take interest in anything and didn’t have time to look.

She just wanted to get her phone back and go home quickly.

And she told him who was making advances to never meet again. And yet.

“Yoo In, let’s go.”

It was Jae Hee who woke Yoo In who was blankly staring at the fountain.

Yoo In, suddenly reviving the consciousness that had been buried underneath, pushed the things occupying her mind back into a corner.

Perhaps because the things that had been filling her mind disappeared, she could barely hear her friends bickering as if from far away.

“You drive well. Want to be my chauffeur when I start my own company later?”

“You know, looking at you, you really put effort into talking nonsense. Can’t you just keep your mouth shut?”

“Why? I’ll pay you well, Driver Yoon~.”

“Aren’t you tired of that by now?”

“No. It’s not tiring. It’s fun. I’ll keep doing it.”

Following behind her chattering friends, Yoo In took out her phone and tapped the screen.

A state with no notifications at all. A clean and tidy notification screen. It was no different from the usual screen she always saw, but today it was strangely irritating and displeasing.

Yoo In sighed and shoved the phone into her bag, and as she raised her head, she saw a well-matched man and woman walking out together from the opposite side of the lobby.

Yoo In, who never took interest in others, should have averted her eyes right away.

But, that neatly creased suit jacket walking over there, that elegant gait, that tall stature a head above others, and.

That handsome face with a faint smile saying something – it wouldn’t let her gaze go.

“Ah…”

It was that man. Director Do Ki Yeon.

Yoo In froze in place. And she felt her heart pounding loudly in her ears.

At the moment when a wave of mixed emotions – whether unpleasant, glad, or hurt – crashed over her strongly, someone pulled Yoo In from behind.

“Nam Yoo In! What are you doing here?”

For a moment, it seemed like those cool eyes looked this way, but Yoo In quickly turned her back while gasping for the breath she had been holding.

Then Ji Han asked while wrapping his arm around Yoo In’s slightly trembling shoulders.

“What is it? Did you see someone you know?”

“No. What acquaintance would I have at a hotel. Let’s go quickly.”

Seeing Yoo In smiling awkwardly with a very stiff face, Ji Han hesitated and moved his lips but didn’t ask further and headed towards the elevator area while tightly gripping Yoo In’s shoulder.

Jae Hee, who had been waiting alone, looked at Yoo In and grumbled.

“Let’s not play lost child at a hotel, Ms. Nam Yoo In.”

“Sorry.”

Yoo In smiled again, forcing up the corners of her mouth that wouldn’t rise.

Ding-.

As the machine made the unique luxurious sound of the hotel and opened its doors, Yoo In floundered again in a flood of emotions while going up to the restaurant on the top floor.

They looked very natural together. They matched well, and she was admirably pretty and beautiful.

So he’s dating someone like that. Someone of that caliber, that’s who he’s dating. I see…

Completely absorbed in the afterimage she had just seen and unable to come to her senses, it was when Jae Hee asked if she would drink wine while ordering the menu at the restaurant table that Yoo In finally managed to focus her eyes.

“Huh?”

“Are you going to drink wine?”

“Oh, oh. I’ll have some.”

“Okay. Yoon Ji Han, you’re not drinking, right?”

“Yeah. I have to drive you guys back.”

The two fought briefly while selecting the wine, and it became quiet when the wine they ordered after reaching a compromise on appetizers arrived.

“Alright, cheers-.”

“Cheers!”

Three wine glasses filled with red wine clinked together with a clear sound.

The two just moistened their lips and put them down, but Yoo In, who had been looking down at her glass for a moment, tilted her head back and downed it in one shot before setting it down with a thud.

As she wiped the remaining wine from the corner of her mouth with the back of her hand, her friends sitting in front and beside her looked at her with strange eyes.

“Nam Yoo In. What’s wrong?”

“Yoo In… have you lost your taste for alcohol now?”

Though their reasons differed, they were equally surprised.

Yoo In blinked nonchalantly and held out her glass again.

The red heat going down her throat sharply seemed like it could subdue her complicated feelings.

“It’s delicious, give me more.”

Jae Hee got excited about having a drinking buddy for the day and poured wine into Yoo In’s glass generously.

“Hey, hey! Are you crazy, giving so much to someone who can’t handle alcohol?”

“Is it too much? Yoo In, try to drink it slowly.”

Ji Han tried to stop her angrily, but Jae Hee stuck out her tongue and avoided his hand with a grin.

Yoo In smiled along, her cheeks already flushed as if feeling the effects of alcohol.

Whether Ji Han had set the menu while making the reservation, not long after they started drinking wine, veal steak, fragrant ravioli, finger food topped with salmon, and avocado salad filled the table.

“Wow, I’ll eat well. Ji Han.”

“Okay. Now stop drinking wine and eat this.”

“Whyyy?”

“…Are you already drunk?”

Ji Han stroked Yoo In’s flushed cheeks with a frown on his fine eyes.

Jae Hee, who was picking at the salad across from them, clicked her tongue and immediately teased Yoo In.

“Look at Nam Yoo In, drunk on three glasses of wine. What a lightweight.”

“No. I’m not drunk.”

When Yoo In protested to Jae Hee with her cheeks puffed out like a blowfish, Jae Hee grinned and mimicked, “I’m not dwunk.”

These guys are really amazingly in sync when it comes to teasing me.

Ugh, getting irritated, she shook off Ji Han’s hand, but that hand came back and ended up taking away Yoo In’s glass.

“Hey, why are you… that…”

It was then.

Thud, thud, the quiet footsteps walking on the carpet stopped abruptly nearby.

And as the soft light illuminating the table where the three sat disappeared and a large shadow appeared, three pairs of eyes turned up towards the owner of the shadow.

A cool, large hand came to rest on Yoo In’s shoulder, which was warm from the wine.

“Yoo In?”

That man she had seen in the lobby was here.