Hyori

So Min waved at my direction when our eyes met across the ramen stall. When I approached her, I noticed that she was looking unusually happy for one should be having Monday blues. I was curious to know her reason for her glow on her face and I attacked her immediately after we had ordered our food.

She leaned forward quickly, whispering, “I was confessed to.”  She covered her face gleefully, as if bashful from what she had just said.

I was still dazed. The first impression that came to my mind was someone confessed his/her sins to her but it did not make sense on why the confession would make her so delighted. Then, it dawned upon me that she was referring to a love confession. “Really. Who?”

“Oh..you did not sound excited at all,” she pouted, sounding disappointed.

I admitted that I was not excited because I feared that the confessor was none other than the Casanova. If he had been somebody else, someone with a better reputation perhaps, I would have rejoiced for my little friend here. “No, I am excited.” I lied and tried to confirm my suspicion. “Is it Geun Suk?”

“Yes! It was him. How did you know?” She questioned excitedly.

I figured this was the first time someone had ever confessed to So Min and she was basking in excitement from the experience. Otherwise, she would not have forgotten that we had been talking about him over lunch last week. “I’m just making good guesses. What did you tell him?” I probed further, hoping in my heart that she had reacted rationally.

So Min twitched her nose cheekily and threw the question back to me, “If you are in my shoes, how would you respond?”

I wanted to tell her point blank to reject him right away and that he would hurt her in the end. But judging from her face now, I could tell that she would disapprove of my opinions and my only good friend would be lost forever. “Well..I think I would tell him that it’s too fast and I need more time…” then quickly appended, “Meanwhile. I’ll check on his love history to assess if he is a reliable man to give my heart to. If he has a bad record, I’ll let him know immediately that I’m not interested.”

So Min’s shoulders dropped as if joy had left her body, “You don’t seem to like him a lot, do you?”

 I felt guilty that she had blown my cover. Perhaps I was not that good at hiding my emotions at all. “I’m sorry, So Min. I’m just worried about you. I have told you about Geun Suk and his philandering ways. I have my doubts that he is true to you.” My hands reached out for hers across the table. “Whatever you have decided on, I will give you my full support.”

So Min squeezed my hand back with a warm smile slowly forming on . “Hyori, thanks so much for your genuine concern for me. Please do not worry. I did not promise him anything and I won’t rush into it.”

I squeezed her hand back, gently affirming, “I am here whenever you need me.”

The waiter approached us with our food and interrupted our heart to heart moment. We dig into our food attentively, both mindful not to bring up the subject of Geun Suk in our conversation after that.

Being much older than So Min, I had the urge to protect and ward her from any harm, especially deceitful men.  Men were liars, and all they had in their evil mind was to take advantage of their female counterparts. They would entice women into their traps with their lies, only to dispose them mercilessly after they were bored with the game.

I was once embroiled in their web of deception. Men told me that they loved me during courtship. When they had got what they wanted, they cruelly dumped me.

Until a charismatic man twenty years my senior came along, I thought that I had finally found my true love. He doted and showered me with tender loving care that any women would crave for. He promised that he would leave his wife and then marry me. Sadly, after three years of waiting, he never fulfilled his promise. I finally decided to leave him when he forced me to abort our flesh and blood, the innocent life I had wanted to protect.

I could remember vividly the day I begged him for mercy for our unborn child. He returned me a cold stare and shoved me into the hands of the doctors who then pinned onto the operating table. When I lost consciousness at the table, I knew I had lost the battle for the life of my child. When I awoke, my baby was gone and the man was there to offer me a bank cheque and a high paying job, in reward of my compliance to his demand.

From that moment onwards, I realized no man is reliable to go through thick and thin with me. I molded my heart as hard as stone to protect myself from being hurt. I believed only in money that could guarantee my independence from men. Determined to start life anew, I decided to devote my life to increasing my wealth. So, I accepted his offers and started work in Kim and Lee as his secretary.

Yes, this man is none other than the managing director of Kim and Lee, Kim Dong Jae.  

It had been four years now. I maintained a solitary working life, hardly making any friends during my term here, till So Min appeared in the office a week ago. Drawn to her innocence and purity, she was like a sister I never had, like my family who abandoned me when I was young. I felt responsible over her; I wanted to protect her from men who would take advantage of her-from playboys like Geun Suk.