It was definitely him - Yang Min Seok, towering over her in his sleek designer suit, his gorgeous smile shining brighter than the expensive crystal chandelier sparkling under the snow-white restaurant ceiling. Seeing him was like admiring a work of art, but what was he doing there?
"Ms. Yoon Se Ah? What are you doing here?"
He seemed equally confused. Se Ah hesitated for a moment - the situation she was in was not something she would proudly announce to anyone, and having to confess her crime of deceit to someone like Yang Min Seok was so embarrassing, she would prefer to just disappear altogether.
"Well... I'm here on my friend's behalf. Oh, come to think of it, did not you just say her name? Kang Da Hye, how do you know her?"
Min Seok scratched the back of his head rather awkwardly, then closed his eyes and let out a sigh.
"I know... OF her."
He sat on the chair across the table that Se Ah was already occupying and smiled.
"It looked like we both are really good friends, Miss Yoon, whereas our friends are two complete idiots."
"I beg your pardon?"
Confused at first, Se Ah widened her eyes but then it finally hit her - Yang Min Seok came here instead of his friend Ryu Tae Jin! The situation that was awkward and embarrassing up to this moment now turned into something that seemed like a cliche scene from a very bad-written TV drama. Happy to see the light of revelation on Se Ah's face, Min Seok put on a pleased smile and called for a waiter with an elegant gesture of his hand.
"To be honest, Miss Yoon, I am rather relieved that I met you instead of your friend. You did not report my invasion of your privacy to the hotel staff, never returned the roses, but also did not try to contact me back. I did not want to look like a stalker so I tried to keep my distance, however, meeting you here tonight seems like fate to me. Won't you agree?"
Se Ah did not believe in something as unfathomable as fate. Misfortune, maybe, but definitely not fate. However... Something about Min Seok was so magical, it almost felt ethereal. But drowning in his smooth, sweet words made her brain turn almost unusable, and without even realizing it, she suddenly blurted out,
"How come you're still single?"
That was so unnecessarily shameless, she wanted to die. Min Seok raised his eyebrows, obviously startled by her bluntness, but then relaxed again and scoffed.
"Now this really feels like a blind date!"
"Gosh, I'm so sorry, I have no idea why I said that, something is wrong with me today."
Se Ah sipped from the glass of red wine that was placed next to her a few moments before, and looked at the man across the table with somewhat guilty eyes. He, on the other hand, seemed unbothered and was perhaps even enjoying her awkwardness.
"If you're really interested, I am single because I am still figuring out what I want to do with my life. Sounds rather strange for someone like me, right?"
It was true, Miss Yoon did find it strange - a man born into money with the word "successor" written all over his fate should not have the "luxury" of thinking his life over. What was there to even think about? Which part of the business to take over? Which house to buy? Which girl to choose for his arranged marriage? She started to feel irritated. She put on an emotionless smile and looked away, which Min Seok found amusing.
"So how about you, Miss Yoon? What keeps YOU away from marriage?"
"I... Don't know if I'm suited for married life."
"And what do you mean by that?"
Min Seok glued his dark, full-of-curiosity eyes on Se Ah while she rested her chin on her left hand, and smiled nonchalantly. It was just like she said - she did not want to be tied to anyone. Her notion of a family was a twisted one, and she was scared to be drowned in that swamp again.
She started tapping her finger on an already-empty wine glass without realizing it, entirely immersed in the activity itself, when all of a sudden, completely out of nowhere, her seemingly meaningless tapping was met with a reply. Min Seok was tapping on the glass as well.
Se Ah straightened her shoulders and widened her eyes and Mr. Yang replied to her confusion with another light scoff.
"Morse Code, I learned it when I was serving in the military. I'm surprised you know it, though. That is definitely rather uncommon, especially for a woman."
It was almost as embarrassing as saying what she kept inside out loud. Of all people she happened to meet in her life, why did it have to be Yang Min Seok who knew Morse Code? Maybe he was not wrong after all, their meeting was a sick twist of destiny.
"My mother taught me. When I was a kid, there were many occasions when we had no other choice but to use it in order to communicate..."
She paused and looked down.
'Like when father was mad and my mother warned me with a flashlight to stay out ... Or when we were scared to wake up my drunk father and used light tapping on the floor to talk about my day at school.'
Se Ah did not say that out loud this time, nor did she try to tap it on the glass. Some things were better left uncommunicated, and Min Seok took a hint. He quietly poured more wine into her glass, then carelessly flipped through the menu, whispered something to the waiter that seemed to have read his mind as he magically appeared next to him out of nowhere, and when the waiter nodded his head and disappeared, Min Seok smiled again, and spoke in a calm but pleasant voice,
"Not that it really matters but it appears that my friend has already paid for the dinner so I ordered the most expensive dishes for both of us. What do you say? Want to waste some rich guy's pocket money tonight?"
Se Ah could not help but laugh. What was that about this man that made her feel so at ease? He seemed as approachable and simple as Da Hye, yet he was still on an entirely different level and was almost as hard to read as Lee Min Hyun. Was it the reason why she was drawn to him? Because he seemed familiar? Or was it because he was an enigma, just like her? Too many questions bombarded her already-cluttered mind at once, she needed to let go at least of something. And tonight seemed like a perfect opportunity for that.
"Sure, spending money that is not mine has become a new habit of mine."
***
The delighted smile on Se Ah's face was usually the source of Min Hyun's happiness, he would probably die just to make her smile like that. And he would definitely kill for it. But not when it was directed at another man.
He gripped his phone tightly in his hand as he watched the two of them enjoy their evening, then brushed his messy hair backwards, and put on a smile full of disappointment and pain.
"Miss Yoon... What should I do? This is really bad."