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The girl’s patience was running low as she constantly checked the time on her phone. Her blind date (not really, since she had prior knowledge of his identity already) was an hour tardy and she was seriously on the verge of losing it. If he didn’t show up within the next ten seconds, she was definitely going to leave. Then, as though he had read her thoughts, Mark strolled into the restaurant.

The girl’s rancid expression instantly lit up at the sight of his oh-so handsome face but the moment was short-lived once she realized that he was not alone. With his arm coiled around another girl’s shoulders, who was not the person he was supposed to be having lunch with, he approached the host and told him to get a table set for two. He acted as though he didn’t see the girl, who practically had steam shooting out of her ears, as the worker led them by her table. As he expected, their commute to the seating area was interrupted. “Mark Tuan, what do you think you’re doing?” the girl snarled, shooting up from her seat in fury.

“I’m sorry, do I know you?” He feigned confusion which sent her blood boiling.

“Are you playing with me right now?” she spat indignantly. “I’m Ahn Taeyeon! Your date! Do you realize how long I’ve been waiting for you? Not only are you an hour late but instead of showing up with some flowers and an apology you decided to bring this—” She eyed the girl dressed in a short pencil skirt and silky, nearly see-through, dark red blouse with much disdain before completing her sentence. “This tramp here!”

Due to her sudden outburst, everyone’s attention was now directed at the trio.

“Excuse me,” the girl besides Mark clucked her tongue and shook her head. “Just because he chose to spend time with me doesn’t make me a tramp. I was wondering why he wanted me to come out with him so suddenly and now that I’m looking at you, I know exactly why.” A smug smirk danced across her lips as she abandoned the boy’s side so that she could properly situate herself in front of the shorter girl. “You’re nothing compared to me. You look like you’re an A.” She cackled and eyed her chest. “Don’t you know guys prefer a girl who has curves?”

Taeyeon flexed her jaw in rage. She couldn’t lose her cool. She had to remain calm. She was the daughter of a rather influential man and if she ended up on the cover of tabloids all over the nation (and not for anything positive either), she would be history.

“We all know you wouldn’t be able to satiate his needs, sweet-pea. So why don’t you run on home and play with your dollies and leave the grown-ups to themselves?” The mockery in her voice pushed Taeyeon’s destruct button and before anyone could react, she screamed and pounced on her.

There was a lot of shrieking, hair-pulling and slapping. Claws were slashing through the air and it took three waiters to intervene and pry the two girls apart from each other. They were still kicking and waving their hands about, striking nothing but the air around them.

“I’m sorry, but you ladies are no longer welcomed here,” the manager of the establishment declared as his men ushered the girls toward the exit.

“What?” Taeyeon shouted. “Do you know who I am? My father could ruin this place with a single phone call! You should be throwing this bimbo out, not me! She stole my date!”

“It’s not called stealing if he came to me out of his own free will!” the girl argued. “Tell her Mark!” Next, she looked around and her eyes widened. The boy was nowhere to be found and she struggled to free herself from her captor. “Where did he go?”

“Ha!” Taeyeon snorted once she realized the same thing. “Looks like you don’t have curves either seeing that he abandoned you!”

“What are you celebrating for, you idiot? He ditched you too!” the girl pointed out. “God! I should have expected this from a player like him. Why does he have to be so hot?”

And just like he always did, Mark escaped, leaving nothing but a trail of broken hearts behind.

* * *

“Don’t come home. At least not right now.” Mrs Tuan sighed over the phone. “Mr Ahn just called your father and he’s furious.”

“Ma, when isn’t he?” Mark answered.

“I just don’t get you, Mark. Is it that hard for you to commit yourself to one girl? Didn’t I always treat you to respect a lady growing up? What’s gotten into you? How could you—how could you do that to those girls?” his mother softly chided.

“I didn’t do anything to them, ma,” he defended, getting a little agitated. “They both knew what kind of person I was. The reputation I have says it all. They knew what was coming to them but they chose to ignore it anyways. It’s not my fault. It’s theirs. What did they think? That I would just miraculously fall in love with either one of them and change my lifestyle like it was the easiest thing in the world to do? This is who I am and I know you don’t want to but you have to accept it. I’m not going to settle down with anyone anytime soon. So I think it’s pointless that you and dad keep arranging all of these dates for me. Nothing’s going to change