Kang Seulgi was everything Myungsoo expected: beautiful, prim, proper, not a single hair out of place. 

In other words, boring.

He had already arrived at the venue for their meeting, early, as he had always been trained to. She wasn't by any means late, arriving at 6:50 for their 7:00 reservation. He had them seated in a private room of Romano's, complete with a citywide view of Seoul through a wall of glass and a bottle of what the sommelier said was their finest bottle of Merlot. 

"Good evening," Seulgi said politely after she shook his hand and took a seat, "It's nice to meet you." 

"Likewise," Myungsoo said with a forced smile. He really didn't want to be here and couldn't understand why Woohyun was so taken with this girl. While indeed beautiful, intelligent, and of impressive family and social status, what else did she really have going for her? Of course, Myungsoo really didn't find anyone besides Soojung worth his time, so it didn't matter.

As the night went on, however, Myungsoo started noticing something odd. Most potential marriage partners usually covered a variety of topics and questions, whether it was about family life and work life, but Seulgi kept coming back to one period of time: the year he spent abroad in America. She kept circling back, asking where he lived, where he went to school, who he met; it was truly uninteresting and no one had ever really asked before, but she seemed oddly fixated. 

"Do you have any interest in living abroad?" Myungsoo asked. 

"Why do you ask?" 

"No particular reason. You just seem very interested in the topic." 

Seulgi let out a small polite laugh, "No, no. I actually lived in New York for a few years myself." 

"I see," he replied, "Then why are you so curious, if you don't mind me asking?" 

Seulgi then made a face reminiscent of a child holding onto a secret, and a feeling of dread lodged itself into the pit of Myungsoo's stomach; something definitely was not right. 

"Well, it just seems odd, how suddenly you returned." 

Myungsoo narrowed his eyes, "Well, yes. My older brother was starting at the company and requested that I return as quickly as possible to assume the position that was prepared for me. Our father was not doing well at the time." 

"Yes, but I'm curious..." Seulgi trailed off, her fingers delicately tapping the table, "Was there perhaps another reason that you so quickly left California?" 

Myungsoo clenched his jaw; this subject area was starting to get to his nerves.

"What exactly are you implying?" 

"While family and business is a potential motivator for your return, I have reason to believe that this was also a potential factor," Seulgi said as she reached into her purse and pulled out a small yellow envelope. Myungsoo sat perfectly still as she slid it over to him. 

"What is this?"

She leaned back in her seat, nodding towards the envelope for him to open it.

Myungsoo stared at her for a split second before reaching for the envelope and opening it. The envelope contained two photographs, both of the same girl with chestnut brown hair. One photo was a school ID photo taken nearly ten years ago and the other taken recently, showing the girl leaving work late at night from Kwon's Angels. 

Soojung.

"Where did you get these?" he said through his teeth. 

Seulgi looked at him with what he assumed to be mock surprise. 

"You know this girl then?" 

"You already know that I do," Myungsoo glared at her.

"Marriage is not the reason I'm here and I know for a fact that it's not why you're here either." 

"While true, I'm not sure that our reasons are the same either." 

"I'm not saying they are. I just believe that we have similar interests." 

"I'd appreciate it if you would elaborate on how you know her," Myungsoo said, tapping his fingers on the photos of Soojung. 

"I would like to ask you the same," Seulgi replied, picking up her wine glass. 

"Ladies first."

Seulgi smiled wryly. 

"She's in a relationship of some sort with Kim Jongin. It's only natural I'd know of her."

Myungsoo tried to keep his face stoic; this was something he already knew.

"I assume you two were in a relationship during your time in America," Seulgi continued. 

There was only one way that she could know this kind of information. It had private investigator written all over the place, but not just any. 

"Heechul?" 

Seulgi nodded. Myungsoo should've known. Heechul wasn't a P.I by definition since it wasn't something he did for a living. Myungsoo didn't know what the man did besides around in flashy clothes and scantily clothed women, but he had the uncanny and intrusive ability to find out just about anything about anyone. Myungsoo couldn't fathom how he couldn't learned to do so from practically living in a car club.

"I don't know how much help I can offer. She and I lost touch years ago." 

"Transparent lie. It's almost offensive," she replied with a dry chuckle.

"Lie?" 

"She works for you. Plus, Jongin's best friend is Park Chanyeol." 

Myungsoo wanted to shake his head at how stupid all of this was. In reality, their society was much like the cutthroat juvenile world of high school. Who-was-dating-who was ridiculously important, gossip and rumours were unavoidable, and of course, there were cliques. Myungsoo knew that he was grouped into a variety of clique; Woohyun and the rest of his friends came to mind. Obviously, that meant Myungsoo also unconsciously did the same with others. In this case, he often associated Seulgi with Seungwan and Joohyun from the Song and Bae Conglomerates respectively, Park Sooyoung who he last heard was disowned and had since gone incognito as a commoner, and of course, Kim Jongin. With him came his own group: Kim Jongdae of TechWare and Park Chanyeol, with his infamously large mouth. 

"You met up with her and she's now working for you. This isn't amateur hour," Seulgi said, "To what extent have she and Jongin developed their relationship?"

Myungsoo wasn't an idiot; he'd seen Jongin's black Jaguar pull up enough times outside of the office to know that he and Soojung were seeing each other in one way or another. When he didn't answer her, Seulgi folded her hands on the table and cleared .

"From your silence, I guess they must be dating. Don't misunderstand, though. I didn't come here to propose any sort of action or anything. This was mostly about inquiry and curiosity." 

"Give it up then, Miss Kang. You may have come here with that kind of intention, but I don't have to oblige."

"Still pining for her, then?" 

"That's none of your business. You don't know me and you certainly don't know Soojung." 

Was Seulgi always this opinionated and brazen? She always seemed so docile and reserved; Myungsoo never would have guessed she was hiding another side and certainly not one this diabolical. 

"Perhaps not, but I will not let Jongin's future be ruined because of this girl," Seulgi said crisply, pointing to the photograph, "Perhaps I've