“The worst bad fate is not the one that you can cut off, but the one that you have to keep seeing even if you hate it. Yoo Jung-hwa, who had exactly that kind of relationship with me, approached the sink, click-clacking her heels.

Four years ago, the first place I encountered Jung-hwa was at Hotel Elstella. Thinking it was a coincidence to bump into her, but why here again, I shouldered my bag, pretending not to see her.

Jung-hwa’s eyes, glancing at Eom So-yeon, also showed indifference as if looking at a complete stranger.

But it was just before So-yeon was about to leave the restroom.

“Ms. Eom So-yeon.”

“……”

Abruptly.

So-yeon, who stopped in her tracks, turned around at the unwelcome call.

Jung-hwa, who took a step closer to So-yeon with a pitying look, smirked with her bright red lips.

“Heh……”

So-yeon, whose roots stood up at Jung-hwa’s prickly and haughty attitude, took a step back as much as Jung-hwa had approached.

Finding that somewhat amusing, Jung-hwa laughed once more and said,

“There are things I can do but you can’t. Do you know what they are?”

“Is there a reason I need to know that?”

“Did you see my article?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

She feigned ignorance, but So-yeon knew about it too.

This morning, a scandal article about Jung-hwa and Tae Seo-jun decorated the main page of an internet portal site.

Under the headline asking if they had reunited, there was a photo of the two standing in front of an ambulance, which looked quite credible.

But Seo-jun must have anticipated the article coming out, as he briefly told her about it last night, so So-yeon had no reason to attach any meaning to that article.

It was also something celebrities commonly experienced.

It was two days ago that Tae Seo-jun, who saw So-yeon empty her porridge bowl, showed up at Hotel Elstella. It was also the very day that Jung-hwa coincidentally met Tae Seo-jun, who had been impossible to approach as he never revealed himself.

As soon as Jung-hwa, who was about to leave the hotel after finishing a regular actress meeting there, luckily discovered Tae Seo-jun having a business meeting cum dinner with Representative Chae at the restaurant, she greeted him as an acquaintance.

However, due to Seo-jun ignoring her, Jung-hwa, who couldn’t avoid humiliation even in front of Representative Chae, whom she was meeting for the first time, and the actresses accompanying her, fell down as a last resort, complaining of dizziness.

Even though he knew it was a fake show, the reason Seo-jun took Jung-hwa to the ambulance waiting outside the hotel was simply because it was a hotel run by his family, and he hoped to avoid becoming a topic of gossip due to the commotion that occurred right in front of him.

When the reporter’s photo of the two of them became an article, Jung-hwa only wanted to remember that article with distorted facts.

Because she desperately wanted Tae Seo-jun, who would allow her to escape from a life where she couldn’t get out of huge debt no matter how hard she tried, and turn her into the best Cinderella overnight.

“If an unmarried mother gets into a scandal, who would look favorably upon that? Moreover, if the man is a flawless top star, you’d be criticized first and told to know your place, right? Since you’ve made it with difficulty, it means you should be more careful about your behavior.”

“Thank you for the advice, but hearing it from you, Yoo Jung-hwa, strangely makes me want to do the opposite.”

So-yeon’s voice as she retorted was quite blunt.

“Then do that. You’ll find out on your own anyway by barking up the wrong tree. Or maybe you already know?”

Jung-hwa, who assumed that Eom So-yeon would also be hanging around Hotel Elstella wanting to meet Tae Seo-jun like herself, glossed over their conversation so far and asked again,

“What brings you here?”

“Since I came to the restaurant, of course to eat……”

“No, nevermind that too.”

As if there was no need to hear more, Jung-hwa cut off So-yeon mid-sentence and stared intently at her face. Her skin, which had become more radiant and transparent than before, was so desirably eye-catching.

“It seems you have nothing more to say, so I’ll be going now.”

The moment So-yeon, who found it creepy to even be in the same space as Jung-hwa, reached for the door handle was the very instant.

“Where do you think you’re going so confidently? I’m not done talking to you yet.”

Dissatisfied with Eom So-yeon’s arrogant attitude of trying to leave first, Jung-hwa outright leaned against the restroom door, blocking the way.

“I told you before. This field isn’t very big.”

“I…… remember.”

Yoo Jung-hwa, who tried to kill me. At those words that brought that memory to mind, her thick and long eyelashes trembled. The fear she didn’t want to remember rose from her toes to her brain in an instant. So-yeon’s gaze, drained of strength, fell to Jung-hwa’s chest area.

“It’s fortunate you remember, but now that we’ve run into each other like this, you should properly show respect to your senior, right?”

“You told me not to stand out, so why……”

“Oh my, you haven’t forgotten those words either?”

“……”

‘I’m telling you to avoid me well. If you don’t want to suffer again.’

Eom So-yeon’s face turned ashen as the chilling incident from a year ago automatically came to mind, making her dizzy. However, the fist she clenched tightly in order not to become weak to her trauma was sturdy, unlike before.

“Still, how can you disregard someone using my words as an excuse?”

“…..I won’t avoid you.”

And I won’t suffer again either.

Absolutely not.

So-yeon raised her head and stared at Jung-hwa with a steadfast gaze as if to pierce through her.

“Oh my my, look at this girl’s eyes. Became so brazen. Now that you’ve escaped from obscurity a bit, you’ve gotten cocky? You won’t lower your gaze?”

“There’s no reason I can’t look at you. If you hate it, Yoo Jung-hwa, you can avoid me.”

“Wh- what did you say?”

The gazes of the two women who clashed clung to each other tenaciously.

But So-yeon’s eyes, slowly moving below Jung-hwa’s waist, stared fixedly at that spot. And with a slight smirk on her lips, she said,

“Rather than that. You should take care of things back there instead of getting worked up at a mere junior.”

“What?”

“There. Your pants zipper.”

“!”

Jung-hwa’s gaze dropped straight down along with her head.

In that moment of fumbling with her pants with flustered hands, So-yeon quickly left the restroom and took a small sigh of relief after getting some distance from there, praising herself.

Well done, Eom So-yeon!

You were needlessly scared of such a simple thing.

If you keep doing this from now on, it’ll be fine!

Her steps heading towards the room where Do-soon was waiting inside the restaurant were gradually filled with confidence. So-yeon, who was quite proud of easily handling Jung-hwa, with whom her trauma always lingered, felt her mood becoming refreshingly clean and fluffy.

[This is the timeline separator]

As So-yeon, who had gone to the restroom, was late in returning, Do-soon left the room and looked around the restaurant.

Perhaps because it was Saturday, there were quite a lot of picturesque couples who seemed to be on a blind date sitting at the tables by the window.

Seeing the couples, someone suddenly came to mind for no reason. She had tried to sort out her feelings, but she had messed up again. Yesterday’s events came to mind, making her head complicated.

But among them, two familiar people caught Do-soon’s eye. Not only that, but their conversation was also clearly audible.

“I’m okay with it, what about you, Representative Gu?”

“I’m fine too. I don’t have any fantasies about marriage anyway.”

As soon as the voices of the two people that caught her attention struck her ears, Do-soon hid her body behind a nearby partition. And fixing her pupils on the absurd sight visible through a small gap, she pricked up her ears.

“Let’s have meals together twice a week.”

“And what else do you want.”

“Ah, privacy too.”

“To keep within boundaries?”

“Yes. I think it would be good to start with that much. And I’d like us to also create a prenuptial agreement that includes the terms each of us wants, what do you think?”

“I agree as well. The sooner the better.”

Gu Won-hoo’s voice was calm and his attitude was also polite. Yeo Do-young also knew how to make her beauty shine, as all her actions were filled with elegance. Overall, the atmosphere between the two was dry but they seemed to communicate well to some extent.

“Ho ho, then I guess we’ll have to go pay our respects to Chairman Gu and Madam Cha soon.”

“Before that, shouldn’t I visit Assemblywoman Yeo and her husband first?”

Their blind date didn’t seem to be sudden. No matter how much she heard, it seemed like an arranged marriage meeting to set a wedding date with the agreement of both sets of parents.

But wasn’t he the man who shared a bed with her from last night until this morning? Even if it was their second and last fling. Even if they had mutually agreed not to get involved with each other anymore. Now that Yeo Do-soon knew, it was a situation she absolutely could not tolerate.

“Damn it!”

This marriage cannot happen!

With her vision instantly flipped, Do-soon couldn’t see a thing.

“Hey, Yeo Do-young!”

Do-soon, revealing herself from behind the partition, called her older sister while panting.

“Yeo Do-soon! Why are you here?”

Do-young looked at her younger sister with widened eyes. Gu Won-hoo’s gaze, which had also swiftly turned back, was directed at Do-soon.

“Wow, shoot, did Mom and Dad say at home that you’re marrying this man?”

“Why do you care?”

“Heol! There’s absolutely no way that can happen!”

“What are you suddenly saying?”

“Will you be able to handle the aftermath? This man slept with me, would that be okay?!”

“You, what are you……”

My goodness, how could this happen!

Do-young got up from her seat and alternately looked at Do-soon and Won-hoo, and even the startled Gu Won-hoo blankly stared only at Do-soon, at a loss for words.

Slap!

“You bad jerk! What did you do to my little sister? You better be prepared too! I’m going to tell Mom and Dad everything!”

Do-young, who suddenly slapped Won-hoo, huffed and puffed.

“Do whatever you want. I’m your parents’ outcast daughter anyway.”

As Do-soon spoke with a snort, Do-young alternated pointing fingers at her sister and Won-hoo, interrogating them.

“So, this man slept with you, and you just sleep around with any man, is that what you’re saying?”

“Speak properly. The representative was my first.”

“Eugh, Yeo Do-soon! How can you be so shameless?”

“Well. I don’t really know about that stuff.”

“Hah! Anyways, I won’t leave either of you alone!”

Slap!

Forcefully slapping Won-hoo’s cheek once more, Do-young moved away from the table.

Even after suddenly getting slapped, Won-hoo laughed in disbelief. It was because this situation of coincidentally getting caught between biological sisters and himself was absurd.

With Chairman Gu pressuring him to marry, making the company’s financial situation precarious, Won-hoo had to forcibly let go of everything except work.

Moreover, in order to avoid constantly getting entangled with Do-soon, with whom he shouldn’t be involved, marriage wasn’t a bad alternative.

But to meet Yeo Do-soon again here, where he tried to run away from her……

Won-hoo could only laugh hollowly.

“So Ms. Yeo Do-soon was Assemblywoman Yeo’s daughter?”

“What does that matter! You clearly look fine, so why are you living such a pitiful life!”

“Before, you said I was dirty, but now do I seem pathetic to you?”

“What’s the point of saying it, I’m so disappointed in you! Why the heck are you marrying someone you don’t even like…?!”

The area under Do-soon’s eyes, who was shouting loudly, was red.

Anyone could see that her furrowed expression, her chest heaving high, was on the verge of tears.

“……”

Should I call it pity?

Won-hoo, who classified Do-soon’s pained expression as such, raised a smirk to his lips.

“A man should…! My eyes are crooked… Uwaaah, waah!”

Conscious of the surrounding people whispering, Won-hoo must have thought this couldn’t go on any longer as he quickly covered Do-soon’s mouth. And he immediately took her and left the restaurant.

As soon as that chaotic situation ended, So-yeon, who narrowly missed Do-soon, returned to the room.

“Huh? Where did she go?”

So-yeon waited for Do-soon, guessing that she had gone to the restroom like herself. However, her friend didn’t show up even after a long time passed. Instead, a single text message arrived on So-yeon’s phone.

Ding!

[Something suddenly came up. Sorry. Let’s skip the meal and meet on Monday, So-yeon.]