Park Shin Hye walking blindly around the hotel ballroom. Her heart beating rapidly as she looking mindlessly on the patterned blue carpet, behind gift chairs, under discarded paper napkins, in places where it couldn’t possibly be. She lost it. The only thing in the world she wasn’t supposed to lose. Her engagement ring.

The ring been in Kim Soo Hyun (her fiancée) family for three generations. It’s a stunning emerald with two diamonds and Soo Hyun had to get it out of a special bank vault before he proposed. Shin Hye have worn it safely every day for three whole months, putting it religiously on a special tray at night, feeling for it on her finger every thirty seconds… and now, the very day his parents are coming back from States, she lost it. The very same day.

Professor Kim Sang Joong and Kim Hae Sook are at this precise moment, flying back from six months sabbatical in Chicago. Shin Hye can imagine them now, eating honey-roast peanuts and reading academic papers on their tablet. She don’t know which one of them is more intimidating.

‘Him. He’s so sarcastic.’ She talk in mind before shook her head.

‘No, her.’ With all that frizzy hair and always asking questions about your view on feminism all the time.

‘Ani! Both of them are bloody scary. And they’re landing in about an hour. And of course they’ll want to see the ring…’ She let out heavy deep breath sing while her mind keep thinking.

‘No. do not exaggerate, Shin Hye. Stay positive. You just need to look at this matter from different angle. Like…’ She pause as her mind working crazily. She squeezes her eye tight. ‘Come on Shin Hye. Think! Think!’ She tells, pushing herself.

“Miss?” A voice interrupt as she quickly open her eye. A grey-haired cleaning lady is trying to get round her with hoover. Shin Hye glued her eye at the hoover as she gasp in horror.

‘They’re hoovering the ballroom already? What if they it up? My ring…’

“Excuse me.” She grab the blue nylon shoulder from the lady. “Could you just give me five more minutes to search before you start hoovering?” She politely ask.

“Still looking for your ring?” The lady ask in concern. “I expect you’ll find it safe at home. It’s probably been there all the time.” She say brightly, with soft smile, sending slightly assurance to her.

“Huh…Maybe.” Shin Hye force herself to nod politely, although she feels like screaming - ‘I’m not that stupid! How can I forget such precious thing like that?’

She walk away from the lady, moving to the other side of the ballroom, where she spot another cleaner clearing cupcake crumbs and crumbled napkins into a black plastic bin bag.

“Wasn’t she listening to me? How can she just throw it away just like that without checking on it properly?” She nagging in her low voice as she coming closer.

“Excuse me!” Shin Hye voice shrills out as she sprint across the lady. “You’re looking out for my ring, aren’t you?”

“There is no sign of it so far, my dear.” The lady sweeps another load of left over from the table into the bin bag without giving it second glance.

“Careful!” Shin Hye grab for the napkins and pull them out again, feeling each one carefully for a hard lump, not caring that she getting buttercream icing all over her hands.

“Dear, I’m trying to clear up.” The cleaner lady grabs the napkins out of her hands. “Look at the mess you’re making!”

“I know. I know! I…. I’m sorry.” She says helplessly. Slightly guilty with what she done, but still her hands scrabbling the cupcake cases that she dropped on the floor. “You don’t understand if I don’t find this ring, I’m dead.” She blurt out without realising.

At the moment, she feels like she want to grab the bin bag and do forensic check of the contents with tweezers. She want to put plastic tape round the whole room and declare it a crime scene. “It has to be here! It has to be!” She mumbles to herself.

She pause for second when a sudden thought cross her mind. ‘Unless someone’s still got it.’

That’s the only other possibility that come to her logic at that moment. ‘What if one of her friends is still wearing it and somehow hasn’t noticed. Perhaps it’s slipped into a handbag… or maybe it’s fallen into a pocket…or it’s stuck on the threads of a jumper…’ Her brows furrow as the possibilities in her head getting more and more far-fetched. ‘No. I can’t give up!’

“Have you tried the washroom?” The lady cleaner ask as her get passed Shin Hye.

“Yes.” She reply. She already tried the cloakroom. She checked every single cubicle on her hands and knees. And then all the basins. Twice. She even try to persuade the concierge to close it and have all the sink pipes investigated, but of course he refused. He said it would be different if she knew it had been lost there for certain. He also sure the police would agree with him.

‘Police? I thought they’d come roaring round in their squad cars as soon as I called. I don’t have time to come down to the police station to file a report. I don’t have time to file a report! I’ve got to find my ring here!’ Shin Hye talking silently as she hurry back to the circular table where she sitting earlier. She instantly crawl underneath, patting the carpet again.

“How could I have been so stupid? How could I have let this happen?” She grumble as her hands patting crazily on the carpet.

It was her old school friend Choi Soo Young idea to get tickets for the Champagne Tea because she couldn’t come to her official hen spa weekend. This is kind of substitute. There were eight of them at the table, all merrily swigging champagne and stuffing down cupcakes and it was just before the raffle started that someone said – “Come on Shin Hye, let’s have a go with your ring.”

She can’t remember who that was, now. “Who suggest that?” She try to remember.

‘Krystal. Is it her?’ Her mind suggest. Krystal was at university with her, and now working together at Fit Pyhsio.

‘Or Ruby?’ Ruby also on their physio course and she was at the tea too. ‘Is she tried on the ring too?’

She biting her lips as she was not sure. ‘How rubbish I am at this! How can I’m so careless.’ She sighs deeply. ‘Why I can’t remember at all?’

She pull herself out from the table into standing position and sit on the chair. ‘I think everyone is trying on the ring.’ She try to remember the scene earlier. ‘Soo Young, Yuri and Jiwon.’  She recalled her old school friends that she invited too.

‘Eun Hye.’ Her wedding planner who also joining them, as she is kind of become a friend too her now.

‘Yubi.’ The assistant of Eun Hye.

‘So Ra and Krystal.’  Both of them are not only her college friends and colleagues, but her two best friends who going to be her bridesmaids too.

Shin Hye can’t deny the fact that she was still in excite in admiration. She still can’t believe something so grand and beautiful belongs to her. She still can’t believe that she engaged! Engaged to a tall, handsome university lecturer who written a book and even been on TV. It all started six months ago… and now her wedding only ten days away!

She wake up every morning and look at the ring, gleaming expensively on her nightstand which still make her disbelief she engaged…and now she lost it. ‘What will Soo Hyun say?’

Her stomach clenches as she swallow hard. ‘No. don’t think about that.’ She shake her head. ‘Come on Shin Hye. Get your mind together.’

She press her lips together.

‘Okay, I remember Jiwon wore the ring for a long time. She really didn’t want to take it off. Then Soo Young started tugging at it, saying ‘My turn, my turn!’

And she warning her to hold the ring gently

‘I was carefully watching the ring as it was passed round the table.’ Try to deny how irresponsible she is.

Then the attention was split, because they started on the raffle and the prizes was fantastic – a week in an Italian Villa, a top-salon haircut at Gangnam , a Zara voucher and so on. The ballroom was buzzing with people pulling out tickets and numbers being called out from the platform and women jumping up and shouting – ‘Me!’

‘Yes. This is the moment where I went wrong. I should march up to