Three days had passed, and it was finally the day of Hongbin’s presentation, however within the course of three days, Hongbin fell into a deeply depressed slumber. Youngji hadn’t come back. She didn’t call, text, or make any efforts to contact Hongbin after their fight. Hongbin spent sleepless nights pacing their apartment, standing by the door for hours, hoping she would come back, but she never did. Each morning, Hongbin would go into his bedroom, take out a small velvet box from his dresser, and stare at it. He would the soft texture of the box, and then sum up the courage to open it. Within the velvet box laid a single diamond ring, a symbol of Hongbin’s eternal promise to Youngji that he would always stay by her side no matter what. Instead of staring at it in anticipation, he looked upon in in shame and grief for the promise that he wouldn’t have a chance to make. Why did he even deserve it? Youngji was right all along. He hadn’t kept the promises he had made to her over the years, but it was never intentional. He loved her and wouldn’t want to hurt her in any way, but the fact that he had kills him even more. The morning of the presentation, Hongbin decided not to take out the box. He stared at the dresser drawer internally debating about it, but shut his eyes and closed his bedroom door. He mechanically continued his daily routine to get ready for the big day and wanted nothing to ruin it. Even though every second a burning thought of Youngji stabbed at his heart.

***

Just when Hongbin arrived at the office, he was immediately met with subtle laughter of Chief Hakyeon. “Ah! Hongbin-ah! You made it, as I expected. Today…today is a very important day hmmm. I know you’ll do an outstanding job. President Lee has high hopes for you, and so do I” he greeted and patted Hongbin’s back. Hongbin awkwardly slumped his shoulders, trying to get away for Chief Hakyeon, but he couldn’t. Hakyeon didn’t seem to notice and continued on. He guided Hongbin all the way to through the office floor while talking nonstop about the people at the meeting. Apparently thirty officers will be there, all anxiously waiting for the man who didn’t show up at the first meeting. He described each one and described their importance to the NPA. Hongbin began wondering where Hakyeon was taking him; they had passed his desk and were now heading to the elevator. Then it hit him. Hakyeon was making sure nothing would go wrong today. He was personally leading Hongbin to the board room so that there would be no chance of any screw ups. Hakyeon had a grip held on Hongbin’s shoulder as they entered the elevator. Hakyeon pressed the button that was engraved “Executive Floor” and finally released his grip on Hongbin. After the elevator began to ascend, Hakyeon sighed. “Everything will go just according to plan, with absolutely no mistakes. You see Hongbin, the whole division is counting on you, and possibly the future of our operations. As Chief Officer, it is my sole duty to protect what we work for. And I must let you know…”, he now looked Hongbin straight in the eyes, “that you will either succeed, or fail trying. You are our voice…use it!” he said and right as he did, Hongbin’s phone vibrated in his jacket pocket. Hongbin ignored it at first, but then it kept on going off. Hakyeon didn’t seem to notice, but he would once Hongbin reached to grab it. Hongbin decided to ignore it and right as the elevator door opened, Hakyeon broke his locked stare and smiled. “It’s time” he said, stepping out of the elevator. He watched Hongbin’s every move, making sure he saw him leave that elevator. Hongbin exited and followed Hakyeon through a long hallway with a single door on the other side. On each side of him, portraits hung all around along with certificates, badges, and medals. When they both finally reached the door, Hakyeon stopped and Hongbin did the same. They both stared at the large double doors that stood in front of them until Hakyeon turned to face Hongbin. “I’ll go in first, do a brief introduction, then you will follow. In exactly one minute”, he pointed to his watch, “You will come in…understand?” he said. Hongbin nodded. “Are they already in there?” he asked concerned. Hakyeon nodded. “They are all present, and waiting for you. Now set your watch!” he hissed. Hongbin set it on a timer for one minute exactly and Hakyeon sighed. He turned towards the door, placed his hand on the handle, then turned his head to Hongbin once more. “One minute” he mouthed, and disappeared into the board room. Hongbin started his timer the instant Hakyeon left and started pacing as he watched the seconds slowly tick away. Hongbin then dug in his coat pocket, desperately scrambling for his phone. He took it out and stared at the screen. Three missed calls. All from…Youngji… his hands started shaking. He quickly tried calling her back when his watch started beeping. It had already been a minute! Hongbin cursed under his breath and reluctantly shoved his phone back in his coat pocket. He adjusted his coat, flattened his tie, took a deep breath, gripped the door handle, and entered the room.

As Hongbin stepped into the board room, thirty pairs of eyes suddenly locked as he blankly stared back. Chief Hakyeon was already seated and anxiously waiting for Hongbin to make his introduction. Hongbin regained his composure and bowed. Hongbin then stood up, and started walking to the podium on the other side of the massive room. Everyone was seated in an oval with the company logo engraved on a rug in the center. They all seemed to face each other, but their eyes never left Hongbins presence. The rest of the room looked quite open with the left wall being entirely made of glass overlooking the city streets. You could slightly hear the drone of cars down below, but not so much to be bothersome.  Hongbin looked out the window for a brief second to distract himself, then focused back on the podium. He ascended the steps, placed all his papers and folders from his briefcase onto the stand. Hongbin cleared his throat. “Gentleman, thank you so much for giving me this opportunity to speak in front of you today. I sincerely apologize for my absence, but I can assure you that it will never happen again. Now, a little about myself.” He explained, then at the same moment his phone buzzed again. Hongbin froze. Ignoring where he was, he immediately scrambled to get his phone. He looked up at his audience and saw their blank, yet judgmental stares. He cracked a slight, embarrassed smile then looked at the caller ID.

“❤영지 ❤”it read.

Hongbin pressed the answer key and put the phone up to his ear. He was still standing on the podium, standing in front of thirty chief executives waiting to hear his presentation. Now they all watched him answer his phone in the middle of a meeting, but Hongbin didn’t care. He was too focused on the thought of hearing Youngji’s voice again. “Youngji-ah! Youngji! Are you there?! Youngji-ah! 어디 계세요? Youngji!” He exclaimed desperately into the phone. “Hongbin!”

It was her. It was her voice. Her sweet, sweet voice.

Hongbin sighed in relief. “Youngji…”

“Hongbin-ah! I’m so sorry…I just needed to think for a while. And I did. I don’t want to lose you over something like this. I just love you so much; I need to see you…”

“Youngji…” Hongbin was at a loss for words

“I’m on my way to your-“

The line went dead.

Then suddenly, an ear piercing nose erupted from outside. A loud car horn sounded, but Hongbin still focused on the phone.  The phone made a loud droning sound that continued to fill his ear. “Youngji-ah! Youngji!” he yelled into it.

Then it processed. Hongbin dropped the phone.

 He made his way to the window. Everything slowed down as time emerged into slow motion. When Hongbin reached the window, he pressed his hands on the glass. His eyes wavered down towards the street where his eyes locked on the most horrifying scene. On the street directly below the building, there had been a car accident. Except there was only one car involved.

And a young girl lying unconscious in front of it.