Okay, so maybe Ga Eul had gotten a little carried away the week before, but if there was one thing she'd learned from being Jan Di's friend all these years, it was to not take crap from anyone.

Anyone.

That included So Yi Jeong.

Ga Eul didn't know where he got off with his 'people like her' comment.

The more she'd thought about it, the more pissed she'd gotten.

Then on Wednesday she'd received a call for an interview early the following week.

An interview!

At that stupid museum his family owned.

That stupid museum for which she was now inclined to cut up her bottom tier membership card.

Except that her mother gifted it to her every Christmas.

She'd already told him she didn't want his charity. Why couldn't the idiot let it go?!

Oh. Right.

He had money.

He wasn't used to being told no.

Twisting her hair into a tighter bun—so tight that her scalp hurt—she huffed in front of the bathroom mirror in the ladies' room.

Served him right to get water splashed in his face. If she hadn't wanted to keep her job, she would have liked to have a go at it herself.

"Why did I get a call this week about an interview for that internship?" Ga Eul demanded when she walked into the room and saw that Yi Jeong had arrived. She didn't bow or otherwise act professional. Why bother? He obviously wasn't interested in doing that.

"I recommended you," he said in a self-satisfied manner, smoothing his hands over the front of his suit jacket. He was in full Casanova mode, wearing a red suit and a black dress shirt like he'd come from a Valentine's Day photoshoot. Ga Eul thought he looked ridiculous.

She marched up to his table.

"I specifically told you not to do that. So why would you?"

"Why do you care? Don't you know not to look a gift horse—"

"Oh, cut the crap." Now that she stood almost on top of him, she saw that his red jacket was multi-toned, progressively darkening in color from top to bottom.

Yi Jeong narrowed his eyes.

"Look, I don't want anything from you if that's what you think."

Ga Eul let out a disbelieving scoff.

"Yes, you do. I admit, I'm pretty naive. Pretty foolish, even. But even I know guys don't go around showering girls with gifts for no reason. There's always a reason. So out with it."

He seemed taken aback by her tenacity and paused, scrutinizing her. For a moment, he looked apprehensive, scared even. And she couldn't for the life of her figure out why. She didn't consider herself that intimidating.

Finally, he shook his head and dropped his arms onto the table. He interlocked his fingers and stared at them instead of her face.

"I am trying to make up for my behavior the other night." He sighed. "But you won't let me."

Ga Eul blinked, not believing her ears. She hadn't expected for him to actually admit he was wrong. Not that it made up for his ill-chosen words, but it was something.

"So you thought you would give me an internship at the largest art museum in the country, and we would be friends again? Is that it?"

"Well—"

"Just because I don't have money or connections like you, that doesn't mean I'm the type of person you can buy."

He sat still a moment, then raised his head to squint at her. The corners of his mouth pinched in a frown.

"That's not...that's not what I meant."

"Maybe that's not what you meant, Sunbae, but that's what it looks like."

"I..." Yi Jeong started and trailed off. He appeared to be trying to form an appropriate response to that accusation.

"Sunbae, do you have a habit of making women upset with you?"

"What?"

"Seemed like I wasn't the only one irritated with you the other night."

"Oh, that." Yi Jeong shifted uncomfortably. "I didn't stand Eun Sang up, okay? I had one date with her. I just didn't call her back."

"She said you were supposed to have dinner with her."

"She was probably referring to the dinner we were supposed to be having while we were...otherwise occupied."

Ga Eul blushed at the insinuation.

"Ah. I see." Actually, she didn't quite see, but she didn't want to know. A realization dawned on her then—something that should have been obvious given Yi Jeong's reputation but that she honestly hadn't dwelt on up to that point. "Yi Jeong Sunbae, you don't like the idea of marriage much, do you?"

He lifted his eyebrows.

"What gives you that idea? The celebrity news?"

Ga Eul shook her head.

"No. Pure observation."

Idle gossip in the tabloids was one thing, but what she had personally noticed over the past few weeks was that Yi Jeong didn't seem terribly invested in any of his dates—Ga Eul wasn't counting the night he'd been dead-set on ignoring her own presence. Overall, he'd appeared far more invested in getting to know her, which didn't make any sense if he was supposed to be picking out a future spouse.

"It's fine for most people, I guess." Yi Jeong broke the drawn-out silence. "I just never thought it was for me."

Oh.

Oh.

Suddenly, all the puzzle pieces clicked into place.

"The reason you've been giving me all this attention. I think I've figured it out," she announced.

"What?"

"You don't want to get married. You're distracting yourself because you have to make a decision you don't want to make, and that decision will affect the rest of your life, and whether you're happy with it or not, you'll have to live with it. Am I right?"

"No...I mean, that's not exactly—"

"It's okay." She took a step back. "You don't have to explain. But to be honest, as you are getting married, whether you want to or not, I'd rather not be caught up in some sort of scandal, accidental or otherwise. I'm not sure it would be worth whatever I would benefit from accepting your internship. So, you see, I must, unfortunately, decline your offer."

"I—"

"I'll call the museum and tell them not to expect me. But thank you. And...I forgive you for...for the other day."

Ga Eul backed away from the table and left the room before Yi Jeong could say anything further.

She wasn't sure where she'd intended to go, but she ended up by the restaurant's stock of alcohol. Unfortunately, he hadn't told her what wine he wanted that evening. Picking out something herself, just so she wouldn't return empty-handed, she grabbed a bottle of cabernet sauvignon and took a few deep breaths.

She walked back slowly, unsure why she felt like crying. Perhaps she was crashing from the adrenaline of confronting Yi Jeong.

She wished Dong Suk was at the restaurant, but he had quit earlier that week and would be flying to Tokyo on Sunday morning for his architecture internship, which began next week. As much as he'd annoyed her over the years, she'd miss having him to joke around with and generally lean on. Her other coworkers were nice enough, but she hadn't bonded with any of them in the same way that she'd bonded with Dong Suk. They'd always had such an easy friendship. And now she was…

Alone.

Ga Eul froze in front of the door to Yi Jeong's room.

She could do this.

She'd served difficult guests before.

This was different though, and she hated how different it was.

She hated feeling like the appetizer before the more expensive main course.

A placeholder.

A proxy.

"Excuse me, miss." A silky voice startled Ga Eul from her thoughts.

She turned and came face to face with a dark-haired woman in a flowing periwinkle blue dress—mid-length in the front and floor-length in the back. A blue sash formed an elaborate bow at the middle of the dress, cinching the light material in place around her tiny waist.

"I'm looking for So Yi Jeong," she said, tucking a curl of her loose long hair behind her ear.

"Oh, yes. He's in this room. Please come in." Ga Eul opened the door to let the woman in.

The woman greeted Yi Jeong with an enthusiastic wave, which he returned.

Great. Another person he had some sort of history with.

Ga Eul served the wine while they situated themselves.

Initially, Ga Eul was thankful that Yi Jeong made no comment about not having ordered any wine.

But then his date, Jenny, announced that cabernet sauvignon was her favorite wine, and oh my god, how did you know…and Ga Eul could have slapped herself for her choice.

Jenny Kang—she insisted on being called by the English name she'd adopted while attending college abroad—was another person who had studied with Yi Jeong in high school. Ga Eul gathered that Jenny had been a year behind him in school and, for that reason, also called him 'Sunbae.'

Ga Eul tried not to pay much attention to the rest of their conversation, deciding she'd been paying a bit too much attention for the past few weeks.

She told herself to just get through the evening and feel better knowing she'd only have to endure three more weeks of this.

Whatever this was.

Whatever it was that she was enduring.

She couldn't even define the tightness in her gut. She didn't know Yi Jeong well enough to be truly heartbroken over her revelation, but she was a bit disheartened that his interest in her had been less about her, specifically, and more about him having a final bit of fun before he resigned himself to matrimonial drudgery.

All right, more than 'a bit disheartened.'

More like bereft of something that could have blossomed into something else.

Though she couldn't, again, define what that 'something' and that 'something else' were.

But it didn't matter because she'd robbed of the opportunity to discover it.

Or, rather, she'd discovered that whatever it was hadn't existed to begin with.

She'd been drifting through a dream world.

And now she'd been smacked awake.

Ga Eul spent the rest of the evening on autopilot.

She brought out their dishes, refilled their wine glasses, offered dessert…

The woman left first, but he stayed—of course, he stayed—and studied her as she collected the dishes from the table.

He seemed to be debating whether or not to ask her something, and she desperately wanted to leave the room before something came out of his mouth that would keep her up all night—again.

"Does it bother you?" he asked.

"Does what bother me?"

"That your idol isn't as perfect as you thought he was."

Huh. Whatever comment she'd been expecting, it wasn't that.

"I never thought you were perfect, Sunbae," she answered honestly.

"Really?" He wore the incredulous look of a person who'd been showered with compliments his entire life. But he didn't seem upset by her bluntness, merely curious.

So she explained, "A perfect person couldn't create art like you do. It takes being a little...broken...to understand." When he didn't respond, she adjusted the dishes in her arms and mumbled, "Um, I'm just going to take these to the kitchen."

She made it halfway to the door when he called after her, "I loved someone once."

Ga Eul paused.

Another revelation. She wasn't sure she could take too many more this evening.

After a moment's hesitation, she turned to face him.

"And?"

"She married someone else." He shrugged like it didn't mean anything, but she could tell that it did. He'd been hurt badly once; maybe he'd been running ever since.

"Oh. Um, I'm sorry, Sunbae."

"It's fine." He smiled. Winced.

"But, you know, maybe she wasn't the one for you. Maybe you'll still meet someone really nice."

"Maybe."

They stared at each other for the longest time, and Ga Eul took shallow breaths, fearing even the slightest sound would break whatever was happening.

Then dishes clattered beyond the door, and she straightened up.

"I'm going to take these dishes back," she repeated softly.

"Yeah, sure."

"I'll see you next week."

She turned, quickly, and retreated from the room.

A/N: Hmm...Technically, there should be three more dates left, but we only have two more chapters to go...What's going to happen?

Hint, hint: The next chapter will not take place at the restaurant. That is all I will say.