INTFT Ch 2. The Blind Date

Young-in’s pupils trembled at the unexpected encounter.

Her body was frozen, but her heart started pounding like crazy. She never expected to run into Cha Seonghyeok here. Facing him after three years, he was still breathtakingly handsome and elegant. His dark hair and eyes, contrasted with his fair skin, even made him look mysterious.

She wanted to avoid his intense gaze, but it was as if an invisible force had tied her down, leaving her utterly motionless. She couldn’t hear anything, couldn’t see anything. It felt like everything else had blacked out, leaving only him.

Young-in, who had been standing there blankly, unable to move a single step, snapped back to reality when she heard her name being called.

“Young-in.”

A raspy voice pierced her ears, and Seonghyeok disappeared from her sight.

Young-in looked up at the person standing in front of her. It was Oh Changgeun, her brother’s friend, with unusually small, snake-like eyes, smiling at her.

“You came to pick up Beomjun, right?”

Only after encountering someone she never expected to see, and then someone she didn’t want to see, did she finally remember why she was here.

“…Oh, yes. Where’s Oppa?”

For the first time today, she was grateful to him. If it hadn’t been for him, she didn’t know how much more of her agitated state she would have shown to Seonghyeok.

“He went to the restroom.”

Young-in frowned slightly.

“Oppa called and asked me to pick him up, but he didn’t answer his phone, so I came up.”

“I told him to call you. I wanted to see you.”

“…”

Young-in’s frown deepened.

Any gratitude she’d felt was long gone. Thinking that she wouldn’t have run into Seonghyeok if it weren’t for him made her feel irritated.

“I’ll be in the car, so please tell Oppa to come down quickly when he gets back.”

Changgeun grabbed Young-in’s wrist as she coldly turned away.

“Beomjun will be back soon. Wait and have a drink with me.”

“I drove here.”

“Oh, right.”

As Young-in twisted her wrist out of his grip with a serious expression, Changgeun gave an awkward smile, his drunken eyes darting around.

“Can’t you just call a designated driver?”

“…”

Young-in just kept her mouth shut, finding it not worth responding.

“Then let’s have a drink sometime, just us.”

“I’m busy.”

What she really wanted to say was “No.” She wanted to tell him directly to stop being so clingy.

The only reason she didn’t was because he was her brother’s friend. More accurately, she was tired of her brother yelling at her.

She’d put up such a strong wall, he should understand by now.

Before Changgeun could say anything else, Young-in turned around and left the room, leaning against the wall and taking a deep breath. As the tension released, she felt completely drained.

It belatedly occurred to her that, for some reason, there wasn’t a single woman in the room. It wasn’t hard to guess why. Even Chae Beomjun, who hated drinking without women, probably had no choice because Cha Seonghyeok was there.

Everyone around them knew that Chae Beomjun was Cha Seonghyeok’s voluntary sidekick.

“Ha…”

Young-in took a deep breath, straightened up, and took a step forward when a resonant voice enveloped her ears.

“Long time no see.”

She paused only for a moment, then bit her inner lip and turned around.

“Long time no see, Sunbae.”

Perhaps it was because she thought she’d never have to call him that again.

The word “Sunbae” coming from her own mouth made her chest ache. She even said something she didn’t need to, just in case he noticed.

“Are you back for good?”

“Do you know where I went?”

“I heard from Oppa.”

“Ah, you probably couldn’t help but know, even if you didn’t want to.”

Young-in lowered her eyelids, avoiding his sarcastic gaze.

“I’m going to head downstairs now.”

“Wait.”

Seonghyeok, who had stopped Young-in with an emotionless tone, gestured to a staff member over her shoulder.

“Do you need something?”

The man, who had rushed over and bowed respectfully, was the same guard who had spoken informally to Young-in a little while ago and gotten a sharp reply. He was so polite, Young-in almost mistook him for someone else.

“Escort her to her car.”

“Understood.”

For him, Chae Beomjun was someone he could handle, but Cha Seonghyeok was an unapproachable figure. That’s because he had just heard about Seonghyeok’s family from the general manager.

SL Group was a company that had firmly held the top position in the business world for over 70 years. There was even a saying that governments might change, but SL was eternal.

“Get rid of those hormonal ones.”

Seonghyeok pointed his chin at the couple still kissing. His twitching eyebrow clearly showed his displeasure.

“I’ll take care of it immediately.”

Seonghyeok averted his disgusted gaze and went straight back into the room without looking at Young-in.

The man quickly put the microphone to his mouth.

“Someone come up to the third floor. Quickly.”

After relaying Seonghyeok’s instructions to another staff member, the man bowed to Young-in.

“Shall we go downstairs?”

Young-in simply nodded and silently followed the man.

The man, as if on a grand mission, frantically stopped anyone who tried to approach Young-in, even if they were just heavily intoxicated. Thanks to him, Young-in received an almost embarrassingly strict escort out of the club and into her car.

How many minutes had passed since she leaned her head back on the headrest and closed her eyes? She heard the back door open, followed by grumbling.

“Ugh, I wanted to party more.”

She opened her eyes and looked back to see a man with a short, slicked-back haircut being helped into the car by what appeared to be a guard.

“Seonghyeok was so serious about me leaving quickly…”

“Buckle up.”

Young-in cut Beomjun off.

What kind of situation was this, asking her to pick him up and then saying he wanted to party more?

“Goodbye.”

As the guard closed the back door and stepped away, Young-in immediately started the car. Beomjun, who had been mumbling incomprehensibly, quickly fell asleep.

Her head throbbed from the sickening smell of alcohol, but she found some comfort in the sudden quiet.

Raindrops began pattering on the car, which sped down the empty road blanketed in darkness. It was a sudden rain, unforecasted.

Young-in gripped the steering wheel tightly, thinking it was just like her situation today.

***

Young-in’s car stopped in front of a two-story detached house. She finally managed to wake Beomjun and sent him inside first, then parked in the garage and followed him in.

Arim, who had been looking down at Beomjun sprawled on the living room sofa with an exasperated expression, suddenly turned her head, sensing someone enter.

“Did you bring him?”

Her voice was sharp, and her face was full of irritation.

“Oppa asked me to pick him up.”

Young-in replied calmly and headed to the second floor where her room was.

Behind her, she could hear her sister and brother’s tense conversation.

“How come you never come home sober? Drink less.”

“It was Seonghyeok’s welcome party.”

“What? Seonghyeok Oppa came? Why are you just telling me now?!”

“Why do I need to tell you?”

“Are you asking me that now because you don’t know? Ugh, never mind! Forget it!”

“Hey, Chae Arim. Seonghyeok isn’t interested in you. Know your place.”

“Hey, Chae Beomjun. Shut up.”

“How dare you talk to your older brother like that!”

“What do you know! Three years is enough time for Seonghyeok Oppa’s taste to change!”

“Even if it changed, it wouldn’t be you.”

“Aargh!”

Young-in bit her lip tightly as she heard both the screaming and the stomping of feet in frustration.

Suddenly, she wondered what expressions her brother and sister would make if they found out that she and Seonghyeok had dated.

She might not know for sure, but she was certain it wouldn’t go beyond “How dare someone like you.” And if they found out she was the one who broke up with him, it definitely wouldn’t end just with that.

A bitter smile spread across Young-in’s face as she walked up the stairs.

***

Three days later.

Young-in returned home from work and received a bombshell instruction from her mother, Madam Kwak.

“A blind date?”

In this household, blind dates were only for her brother and sister. At least until now.

“Madam Jin just called and specifically asked for you.”

Madam Jin was what you’d call a “matchmaker.”

It was common practice to gift Madam Jin luxury bags or slip her hundreds of thousands of won to get good prospective sons-in-law or daughters-in-law.

Young-in knew her mother had been working hard to impress Madam Jin.

“Why me? Who is it?”

The answer came from Arim.

“Oh Changgeun.”

Young-in narrowed her eyes, and Arim let out a disbelieving scoff.

“Why the face? Changgeun Oppa is more than enough for you. Don’t you know Seongmyung Construction is among the top 20 construction companies?”

Beomjun chimed in.

“You’ve been dodging him and never meeting him, so he had to resort to this, didn’t he? Just go.”

Madam Kwak finished it off.

“The day after tomorrow, 6 PM. H Hotel Cafe. I’ll be in a really difficult position if you refuse, so don’t be late.”

Madam Kwak forcibly pulled up the corners of her mouth, which barely moved due to too many cosmetic procedures, to produce a benevolent smile.

Young-in was a sacrifice for her brother and sister. And of course, a sacrifice had no choice.

***

Five minutes before the appointed time.

Young-in arrived at H Hotel Cafe, the blind date location. The other person hadn’t arrived yet. She was preparing a warning to tell him never to pull such a useless stunt again when she felt a presence in front of her. She looked up to see a person she never would have dreamed of, just like the other day, sitting in the opposite seat.

“Sunbae, how are you here…?”

Young-in stared at the silent Seonghyeok with a bewildered expression, then clenched her fists tightly to compose herself.

“Someone’s coming.”

“They’re not coming.”

“What do you mean?”

“I’m here instead of Oh Changgeun.”

“…”

Young-in’s mind, which had vaguely assumed he was at the hotel for work and just happened to see her, became increasingly muddled.

“I told him to give me this blind date.”

Seonghyeok leaned back in his chair and smiled faintly.