CHAPTER 02
SONG NOEUL

"I believe this is one of the fate, the destiny that I talked about."

I couldn't believe my eyes, my ears and everything that had happened. Why didn't I look further into his profile to notice that he was one of the FaceNotes' bosses? And how could he be friends with Kim Namjoon, CEO of Flinders? Of all people?

My team, including Jin and Namjoon, was dumbfounded to what Hoseok had blatantly said. But he covered up saying that we never met before when Namjoon had asked him. He said that I looked very much appealing since the first time he laid his eyes on me.

Flirting.

He was flirting with me. And I'm not used to all of those. Not to me.

Right now, everyone was mingling with one another, networking and whatnot. But a few of the ladies flirted with men. The entire ballroom was filled with people from Flinder, FaceNotes, Tweedle, and Instrend. And I couldn't understand myself why amongst all the people around the room, my eyes landed on him.

No, I had absolutely no interest in him.

Grudge. Yes, that was it. Pure hatred and just grudge.

"He's really into you, Unnie," Kiran pointed out. "He ignored us whenever he had his eyes on you," She said, taking sips of the red wine.

"Did you two really have not met?" Jisoo asked out of curiosity.

"He lied," I said. "He was my final client earlier."

"Your client?" Eri gasped dramatically, teasing me. "But Eul-ie, it looked like as if you were the one who got matchmade with him. Honestly, you two looked compatible."

"NO and NEVER," I said as I took the glass from Kiran's hand, gulping the entire red wine.

"Unnie! You don't drink!" Sooji pointed out.

"Oh God, forgive me for I have sinned," I said sarcastically. "I'm leaving. If you girls wished to stay go head. Just don't be late tomorrow," I turned around and began to leave. I felt the atmosphere so suffocating.

As soon as I felt the wind breezes past my face, I heaved a sigh. All the words that he asked began to fill my mind. He wasn't wrong at all. The points that he pointed out had some truths that I was denying most of it - well, all of it. Indeed, I never experienced love at all. Indeed, I worked hard to find love for a person. It was only because a trauma that I  had when I was a kid.

Parents divorced and there wasn't anything I could do about it. I was only four years old and I knew nothing. I was afraid of all the screamings and yellings, the fights that my parents did to each other. From then on, I just wanted to see happiness around me. I wanted nothing else but happiness and joy in life. To see people smile, makes me feel even better.

"I never thought that you would be here, the team that Namjoon highly praised about," My thoughts shattered as I turned around and I saw him. He smiled. Sincerely. At this point, I wasn't sure if he was being himself or was just being an enemy that he had made himself.

"Well, he failed to mention that someone who was running FaceNotes was his friend, who actually is looking for a wife."

He laughed arrogantly with his hands tucked into his pants. He approached and stood beside me. "And I believed that I have found someone that I had been looking all this while," he said as I looked at him. "You."

I scoffed, "Don't embarrass yourself."

"Won't you give it a try?" He asked as I turned my back facing him. "Or are you afraid to try?"

"If you do not want to have an imprint hand on your face one more time, I suggest you head inside," I muttered.

"Wow, fiesty, aren't we?"

"And don't worry, Mr. Jung Hoseok, I'll find you a wife. Because, to you, love doesn't matter, right? If it works, it works? If it doesn't, it doesn't? You lose nothing, right?"

I turned to him as he shrugged.

"You say that I had never been in love - You're right. But you won't find real love either if you keep on playing around like this," I answered honestly, and his cheerful smile began to falter. I walked away thinking of what I had said.

And that night, for some reason, I felt completely disturbed by Hoseok's frown expression.

*
I was about to reach home when someone was waiting outside my apartment door.  I   realised it was my sister-in-law, Soojung. "Unnie," I called out to her. "What are you doing here?" I asked as she looked up. Her face was wet with tears.  She had been crying. "Come on, you shouldn't be sitting down. You're pregnant. Good lord," I helped her up when she clung onto me and cried in my chest, harder than before.

"Noeul," She cried. "Your brother.." she choked.

"What happened to my brother? Did something bad happened to him?" I asked, "Let's go inside-"

"He's seeing  someone." I froze.

"Eh?"

"He's cheating on me, Eul-ie ah!"

It was like as if the world stopped, time stopped and I could only hear her crying. I frowned in disbelief and I felt my heart shattered to pieces. I shook my head, telling myself that she was lying. I knew my brother well, he had been an most of the time, but as a brother, he was nothing but good to me. She convinced me when she told the whole story. The woman that entering their lives was someone that gave me bad vibes. And I couldn't hide the fact that I was struggling to deny the reality that slapped me hard to my face.

The pain was unbearable. And my sister was facing these things on her own. And me, being her in-law, I felt absolute disgusted and ashamed to what was happening.

On the same night, my world fell apart.

*

I couldn't sleep. Soojung left after she had confided in me with her worries. She told me to pretend not knowing anything. She told me to keep a secret from my brother. She only needed someone to talk to, to be comforted too. She had mentioned to tell me not to worry as she would try to work things out with my brother.

"How in the bloody hell can I not worry?" I said to myself as I sat up from my bed. I looked at the time. "It's only 4 AM in the morning."

Sleep was the last thing that I had in mind and now I couldn't sleep. I decided to take a shower, began to prep myself up for the following day of work. Yes, I needed to work. I needed a distraction.

The office was silent when I arrived. I placed my files and bag into the meeting room that I had always used when I heard a muffled noise next door. When I entered earlier, the office was locked and I was sure that no one was around except for myself. I began to pick up a thick, strong book and forced by rolling it tightly. I approached the next meeting room door.

Opening gently, I couldn't see anything but darkness, the voices of giggles could be heard. I switched on the light and was prepared to throw what was in my hand. I stood frozen in disbelief and in complete shock.

"Oh, God."

Breathe.

E-Eul-ie!!"

"Oh, God."

In and Out.

He coughed, "I can explain."

"Oh my God."