The night of the dinner with Jae Kyung…

Woo Bin looked at his watch. It was 11 in the night, by the time his parent’s esteemed guests left. His father had made sure not to keep him out of his sight for a single moment, so that he could not escape with any excuse. Once, he had dared to walk to the corner of the dining hall to call Jae Kyung and inform her about his predicament, but to his utmost dissatisfaction, her phone could not be reached. It was switched off.

“She must be extremely mad at me,” he thought ruefully.

The moment the guests left, he turned to his mother.

“This is the last time I am allowing you to treat me like a teenager who has to get his parent’s approval for every little thing he does,” he muttered in a warning tone, and left without hearing her reply.

He sped his car through the streets of Seoul at high speed. Thankfully, traffic was thin on the Sunday night. As he pulled up in front of Jae Kyung’s apartment, he paused for a moment and thought if he should have called her first.

No, I need to apologize personally to her, she does not deserve such casual treatment from me.

He walked up the stairs hurriedly and paused in front of her door. Taking a deep breath, he pressed the doorbell. He heard faint footsteps coming closer. But then, it was all silent.

“Jae Kyung, please open the door. I am sorry for standing you up tonight. I know you are there. Please open the door and hear me out,” he spoke when the door did not open in another few minutes.

He waited with abated breath for few more moments.

“Jae Kyung, please,” he pleaded again.

The door opened slightly, and Jae Kyung stood in front of him, still dressed in a beautiful midnight blue evening dress.

“What now, Song Woo Bin?” she barked.

“Do you want all your neighbours to know about our conversation here?” asked Woo Bin, lowering his tone.

She groaned and let him in. As she closed the door behind her, he came close and placed his hands over her shoulders.

“I am really, really sorry, Jae Kyung. I was about to leave when…”

“Get your hands off me, Song Woo Bin!” shouted Jae Kyung, and pushed his hands off her shoulders.

Woo Bin was stunned by her vehemence. He realized her anger was way deeper than he imagined. He stepped back slightly and looked at her cautiously.

“Believe me, I did not do this intentionally,” he murmured.

“I don’t care what you do intentionally or unintentionally. You did not have the minimum decency to send me a text that you had changed your mind, and did not care to see me for a dinner. I would have been spared the humiliation of waiting for you for hours in front of a restaurant full of people,” she spoke, seething in anger.

Woo Bin held his head low, and sighed.

“I thought I would be able to make a way somehow, that is why I did not want to put you off with a text. And by the time I realized it was too late, I called you and your phone was switched off. I know, I was stupid to think like that,” he replied.

“No, you are not stupid or anything like that. You are very smart, and you know I am not the person you need to pay any attention. I have understood it very clearly, Song Woo Bin. Now, will you please leave and never bother to show your face again?” she blurted with exasperation.

“Jae Kyung!” Woo Bin exclaimed with wide eyes.

“Leave!” shouted Jae Kyung and opened her door wide, pointing outside.

Woo Bin narrowed his eyes and looked at her one last time, before walking out.

He heard the door closed with a bang behind him. He paused on the steps and looked back at the closed door.

You got me all wrong, Jae Kyung. And, maybe, I have got you wrong all this while as well.

He entered his car and punched the steering in frustration. Suddenly his whole life was coming crumbling down. His family’s pressure on him, the complications of his business, his new-found love for Ga Eul which he knew his family would never let him materialize, and then Jae Kyung’s sheer disbelief in him.

“Why couldn’t I have a life on my own accord?” he cried out in anger.

He fired up the engine and drove his car with high speed. His mind was all in topsy-turvy. He needed to vent out all the pent-up frustrations. He kept driving at break neck speed through the city, and by the time he pulled up his car, he found himself in front of one his night clubs. He tossed his car keys to the valet and entered the club. Although it was Sunday night, the club was full of people, with loud music playing at the background. All the employees at the club immediately bowed to him, and cleared the VIP lounge area for him to sit.

Woo Bin ignored the young enthusiastic people around him, who tried to wave or call out his name. He walked up to the VIP lounge and sat down on the couch. A young waitress came up and asked him about his order for drinks.

“Bring me a bottle of scotch,” he muttered, holding his face in his palms.

It was after quite a long time that he was visiting the club. It was not like the old days anymore, when he would be hanging around with his friends, mobbed by young, beautiful girls, flirting and having ‘fun’. He enjoyed that life a lot when he was young. But with time, he realized his priorities were no more such senseless, transient fun. He wanted to get something more meaningful, more profound.

But, definitely the girls in the club did not think likewise. Soon, they followed him to the VIP lounge, and gathered around him, trying to start a small talk or just touch him. The blaring music at the background was too loud to make their words audible to Woo Bin in anyway. He just sat there like a statue, only moving his hand to bring the whisky glass close to his lips and gulp down the strong alcohol. One girl was excessively clingy. She tried to whisper sweet nothings in his ears, while her hands moved over his torso.

“Get your filthy hands off me,” muttered Woo Bin, glaring at her.

She would have persisted some more time, given that a night with Woo Bin would get her so much to brag about to her friends. But, the fire in his glare warned her that it would possibly not be a safe choice tonight. So, she hesitantly pushed herself away from him, and immediately Woo Bin stood up. But the high amount of alcohol, drunk in quick succession, made his head reel and he stooped on the table to check his balance.

Immediately, one bouncer came to his help and held him up. He had been keeping an eye on his boss, as he kept emptying the whisky glasses, one after another.

“Sir, you need to go home now. I will g