DFY Ch 15

Brrrr. Brrrr.

Sodam’s phone vibrated on her desk. Her heart pounded as she checked the screen, hoping for a positive response about the instructor she’d been trying to hire since morning.

My Honey

Are you busy, babe?

But the message wasn’t work-related.

It was from “My Honey.”

“My Honey” was none other than her best friend, Kyung Soojin. They were so close they called each other “honey” – like best buds, even though neither of them had balls. Anyway, Sodam was swamped with afternoon work, and now she had a message from Soojin.

Yeah

Exhausted from draining phone calls, Sodam sent a dismissive, two-letter reply.

My Honey

Let’s see each other today.

Busy.

My Honey

You little brat! I got dumped! How long are you going to avoid me?!

Sodam could practically hear Soojin yelling. She didn’t want to see anyone yet, but she couldn’t avoid Soojin forever, especially after Soojin had bought an expensive new dress to catch Sodam’s bouquet.

Okay.

My Honey

Meet me at Psycho after work.

“Psycho” was their usual hangout, a coffee shop near their homes.

Yeah

Sodam sent another curt reply and flipped her phone face down on the desk.

“Sigh…”

Still, the thought of seeing Soojin and catching up made her feel a little better. Soojin was the first person she’d called after deciding to break off her engagement.

With a sigh, Sodam called the next contact on her list of potential accounting instructors. Her gaze drifted towards Junwoo’s private office. He seemed to have come in for the afternoon, but he was holed up inside, as if he didn’t want to leave. Maybe he didn’t even want to go to the bathroom. The usually restless and fidgety team leader was, strangely, in work mode. He was probably hiding in his office to avoid seeing her.

“Not my problem,” Sodam muttered to herself, waiting for the instructor to answer.

Her heart beat faster with each ring. The list Ji Miyeon had given her was useless. She needed to find a suitable instructor with a matching schedule by the end of the day, but her mind was still a jumble of thoughts.

✦ ✦ ✦

Having skipped dinner to finalize the instructor list, Sodam left the documents on Assistant Manager Park Wonhee’s desk and hurried to meet Soojin.

Arriving at “Psycho” 20 minutes late, she found Soojin glaring at her from behind a small table laden with coffee and the remnants of several cakes.

“Hey! Wang So!”

Sodam self-consciously took a seat. The sight of the half-eaten cakes made her stomach growl. She was amused by her body’s demand for sustenance amidst all the emotional turmoil. Even though she had no appetite, she picked up a fork out of habit.

“Keep your voice down. Sorry I’m late. Work ran over.”

“Who cares about being late?! You break off your engagement and you don’t even show your face? We live a stone’s throw away from each other!”

“You know I’ve been a mess… Cut me some slack. You were the first person I told.”

Soojin watched as Sodam began to eat, then put down her own fork and gulped down her iced Americano. She wiped her mouth with a tissue and fixed Sodam with a stare.

“So, let’s hear it. After five years of chasing after Junghyuk, crying and carrying on about how much you loved him, why call off the wedding a month before the big day?!”

“…”

Even with Soojin, it was hard to say. Soojin, seeing Sodam’s hesitation, spoke first.

“Did that jerk cheat on you again?”

“What? No! Of course not…”

“Don’t lie to me. Kim Junghyuk is notorious for his wandering eye. I’ve seen it with my own eyes, at least ten different girls in five years. More, even.”

“It’s not like that.”

“Don’t be embarrassed. Whoever she is, she’s an angel. You almost married a cheater. It’s better you found out before the wedding. You shouldn’t even associate with those kind of guys.”

Not a wandering eye. More like a fascist dictator down there.

“He didn’t cheat…”

As mortifying as it was, Kim Junghyuk didn’t seem like the type to two-time. He might have gaslighted her, but Sodam didn’t want to stoop to his level by revealing that.

“Did you cheat on him?”

“He asked me the same thing! What does he take me for?! Why does everyone keep asking me if I cheated?!”

“Right. Wang Sodam would never cheat. Five years, devoted to Kim Junghyuk.”

Sodam nodded. Soojin leaned in.

“Stop keeping me in suspense and spill it already.”

“…You don’t want to know.”

“The least you can do is tell the person who’s supposed to catch your bouquet! I spent 500,000 won on a dress for this! Did I tell you that or did I not?!”

The mention of the 500,000 won dress softened Sodam’s resolve. She wanted to scream “The emperor has no clothes!” but everyone was so curious about the broken engagement, and she was tired of keeping it bottled up. Seeing Junghyuk on his knees, begging her parents for forgiveness the previous night, had also made her uncomfortable. Maybe she should have tried couples therapy.

No. She couldn’t bring herself to hold the hand of a gaslighting, erectile-dysfunction-having man and go to a urologist. And even if she had, with his attitude, he wouldn’t have gone anyway.

But she needed someone to give her an objective opinion. Maybe she had been too harsh. And if anyone could judge the situation fairly, it was Soojin. At least Soojin wouldn’t go around gossiping about Kim Junghyuk’s shortcomings.

“The thing is…”

“What? What?!”

Soojin bounced impatiently. Sodam, for the first time in ten days, finally uttered the secret.

“…Junghyuk… you know…”

“Yeah?”

“He can’t get it up.”

“Huh?”

Soojin stared at her, dumbfounded. After five years and a string of ten or more girlfriends, the image of the notorious playboy Kim Junghyuk being impotent was as shocking to Soojin as it had been to Sodam.

“At first, I thought it was my fault. Remember? He promised to wait until marriage.”

“Yeah, and I told you that was crazy. He’s been playing around all this time, but he’ll wait for you? What is this, the Joseon Dynasty?”

“But he kept telling me things like, ‘Maybe you’re not my type, so I’m not reacting. But it’s okay. I understand.’ Or, ‘I like that you’re not like other girls, Sodam.'”

“And he had the nerve to gaslight you on top of it all?”

“He said it happens sometimes. That if a woman is too sexy, it doesn’t happen, but it’s my fault.”

“So, it didn’t work with other women either?”

“Exactly!”

“Ahhh… Now it makes sense. Now I understand why Junghyuk kept changing girlfriends.”

“…”

“He wasn’t changing them, he was getting dumped.”

“…I guess so.”

Sodam hung her head. She could talk about anything with Soojin, but airing her ex’s dirty laundry still felt embarrassing.

“Well, good riddance, then.”

“But maybe I was too harsh?”

“What are you talking about?!”

“Maybe if we went to a doctor together, it could be fixed? Maybe I should’ve postponed the wedding and waited? He came to my house yesterday and cried in front of my parents. It’s bothering me.”

“Are you crazy? Why should you fix his erectile dysfunction? Frankly, if he’d hidden it and you’d gotten married, it would’ve been grounds for divorce! And he has the audacity to gaslight you about it? He’s a lunatic!”