hole-and-corner

Chapter 10. Hearth

"Wow."

This is the first word that she articulated as soon as she laid her eyes on her. Yubin was wearing an emerald bodycon dress and black high heels. Her slicked-back hair complimented with the outfit, giving off this really cool vibe. Her eyes scanned Yubin's look today for one more time; slower, taking in all of her and carving all of that beauty into her memory. What she didn't notice earlier was that the other was doing the same to her, until their gazes met and there was glimmer in their eyes that both couldn't help but to just smile during that moment. On the other hand, Handong was in a white, sleeveless, A-line satin dress. Her hair was wavy and was styled with crystal-studded pins showing off her elegant and innocent look.

"Miss Kim would be here anytime soon." Yubin said before moving closer to her. "Am I in heaven? There's literally an angel in front of me."

Handong chuckled at the way she was complimented. "No, I'm not an angel. I'm 'yours', beautiful."

Both of them laughed at the silly battle of cringey lines, stopped for a moment in silence before Handong spoke again.

"Seriously, it's the first time I've even seen you in a dress and I think you should do it more often."

"If it wouldn't ruin our make-up, I could've just kissed you right now." replied Yubin.

"If you could wait later after the event, we could have our own after-party." joked Handong with a teasing smirk and a wink.

"Are you serious or are you just messing with me?" Yubin asked in disbelief.

Before Handong could answer, they heard Yubin's phone ringing all of a sudden. Minji called and told them that she was just about to arrive at the apartment building. The two stopped their flirting and walked down to the ground floor. In a few minutes, Minji arrived with her assistant Bora in her car.

"Wow, you two look amazing!" She commented as the two hopped into her car.

"Thank you, Miss Kim." Handong said shyly. Yubin just smiled and proceeded to compliment the CEO and her assistant before Minji started driving away.

A couple of days ago, they received an invitation from SeeU Apparel to attend the launching event of their new collection which they did the advertisement project. It is so far the biggest and most diverse collection that SeeU was releasing.

The ride has been quick and unnaturally quiet. Soon enough, they arrived at the venue. It is held in an events place with a huge hall and a magnificent garden lined up with a mix of flowers and tropical plants. They entered the hall and immediately saw Yoohyeon over the reception desk.

The secretary spotted them in a second and approached then as soon as she was done with her conversation with the staff.

"We're glad you made it! You all look amazing!" She said as she got closer. She was trying not to stare too much at the CEO but she was looking so fine that Yoohyeon had to lead them to their allotted location just to distract herself.

There were many people already seated on their seats. Yoohyeon lead the way and once they are seated, she quickly bid them goodbye to go check out the other guests.

"The event will be starting in a little while. I should go, let's continue the chat later guys. Hope you all enjoy the event." Yoohyeon politely said before heading away. Her heart thumping so fast when she met Minji's gaze for a second.

It was pitch black in the hall a few seconds before an upbeat music started playing and voices are now announcing the theme of SeeU Apparel's latest collection. Stage lights were then opened and girls appeared on the runway, wearing various spring-themed coordinates, ranging from two-piece casual outfits to elegant evening dresses. Their eyes were fixed on the stage and casual comments were exchanged as they were looking at each model.

The stage lights were dimmed once more before the announcement of the highlight pieces of the collection. Everybody waited in anticipation as a famous model entered the stage. She walked down the stage with beaming confidence and everybody was applauding, eyes stuck on her beauty.

Minji, who was in awe, turned to look at Yubin who has an even more surprised look on her face.

"Chae... min." It has been a long time since she last said that name. It has been a long time since she last saw her in person.

The woman walked down the stage as if she knew that the world would turn to look at her, and she was right. Everyone did. Her eyes spotted a very familiar figure along the audience and she smiled- no, smirked at her as soon as their gazes met. Yubin was just uncomfortably sitting there in disbelief... just how bad her luck is to meet her again, in an event like this...

Every second that passed seemed too slow for Yubin. Oh, how she wanted to just leave the event halfway but it might worry Minji and Handong. She just sat there with cold, shaky hands....

After the program, there was an after party that was hosted by the company and there were food and drinks for the attendees. Everyone was in high spirits and were enjoying the party, except for Yubin. She just quietly sat on a corner with a champagne glass on her hand. Handong was beside her, enjoying a non-alcoholic drink as she chatted with Yoohyeon. The two noticed how unusually quiet Yubin is and tried to engage her in the conversation as much as they can but Yubin seems to be so out of it that she would just stop halfway on her sentences which left the two wonder if she's already drunk or if she's sleepy.

Yoohyeon excused herself to go to the restroom. Handong took this opportunity to talk to Yubin whilst they were alone...

"Hey, Miss Lee. Are you okay?" She asked with a concerned look on her face.

Yubin's face calmed down a little and she smiled at Handong. "Yes, I'm just... tired. I think..."

"Do you want to go home now? We can get a cab if you want."

Yubin shook her head. "I don't want CEO Kim to be worried for nothing. I'm okay, really."

"Are you drunk already?" Handong joked.

"I might be..." Yubin responded with a kind smile.

"Do you want a punch or something?"

"Are you going to hit me?" Yubin chuckled, finally getting a bit comfortable.

"Punch!" Handong motioned as if she was drinking before rolling her eyes and laughing. "I can get you something to drink if you want."

She was about to stand up and Yubin was hesitating to stop her because she doesn’t want to be left alone in the thick crowd of people. But she couldn't even properly say it until Handong finally stood up and said, "I'll be back in a minute."

She watched her walk away and didn't notice the person from the other side walking towards her seat.

"Dami..."

Her eyes widened as soon as she heard that nickname. There's only a few people who calls her that and she definitely knew who the speaker was. She froze in place as she