Chapter Text
A few days earlier...
He took a sip of his Margarita and kept the rest of it on the small table next to him. He savoured the orange and the lime on the tip of his tongue Then the tequila. The combined flavours rolled to the back of his throat and down his oesophagus. He lost count of how many times he’d done the exact same thing these many weeks.
Do-il gazed at the cloudless sky in routine contemplation. It was a picture of tranquility. Except for the caw of seagulls in full flight. He was basking under the warm Mediterranean sun. Legs stretched out on a poolside recliner. The sun’s rays massaging his skin and the soothing touch of a gentle breeze blowing over in concert. A perfect day. Except for an empty chair beside him reminding him of what he was missing. Again. He lost count of the reminders. Again.
His thoughts inevitably flew to her. As they did more and more with the passing of each day in paradise. This gradual chipping away at his newfound respite was wearing him down. Bit by bit. Gnawing at him from the inside out. He was on the precipice of succumbing. He knew it in every marrow, muscle and tissue. The conclusion came to him a week ago. He had caged himself in paradise. And alone. Away from it all in the apartment he now called home. He arrived at his getaway finally but he couldn’t get away from thoughts of her. Pining for her oceans away was paradoxically a pleasant and painful sensation. Sometimes he spied her sitting at a table in his favourite bar. Other times he saw her strolling by the beach. Still on occasion when enough alcohol kicked in, she was lying next to him in his bed fast asleep.
Waking dreams. That’s what he called them. Like watching tv. Vivid. Closeups that led nowhere. Insidious in their slow but steady grip on him. Once he forgot and reached out to touch her hair. Poof. The illusion disappeared in an instant. He rolled onto his back. A flood of regrets. A sigh. Eyes closed.
Should’ve. Could’ve. Would’ve. A fool. That’s what I am.
He should have tried harder to talk her into leaving with him. No. No. The timing wasn’t right. Those damn Russians. Thank God he didn’t. They would have caused trouble. He could’ve asked her to wait for him. Maybe… he should have just called. At least once. Say hello. Find a pretext. Send her a ticket. Set up an opportunity to confess. Too presumptuous? Maybe. Second guessing. More second guessing.
Did she even care about whether he was dead or alive?
At that moment he told himself that it didn’t mater. He cared if she was dead or alive. He wanted was to see her. In the flesh. Not on in his dreams. Not on tv. To hold her and never ever let her go again.
His head was buzzing with plans. A new set of plans. His Mediterranean holiday was over. It was over weeks ago. Perhaps it had been over even before it started. But he had stubbornly held his ground. Back to Korea. A soft groan escaped his lips. It would take him a week to sort out a few things and find an agent. He gulped down the rest of his Margarita and sprung to his feet. He slipped his T-shirt over his head and jogged back to his apartment.
His laptop had been tucked away in the back of his wardrobe. He could no longer resist its call. The battery had gone flat. Thankfully it was charging. More importantly it was booting up. The whirring of the machine was music to his ears. His email inbox on the other hand was a sight for sore eyes. As he scrolled down, he saw 4 emails from Oh In-joo. His heart leapt. She had flicked them to his old email account at Wonryeong. The earliest one was from 2 months ago. Not long after he had left.
Hi Manager Choi
How are you? It’s been very peaceful around here. In-kyung is now in the States studying. In-hye is travelling in Southeast Asia. But I guess you already know all that. I’m living by myself in my great aunt’s old apartment. It’s feels so strange. Having my own place is not what I expected at all. It’s too quiet for my liking.
I am writing to thank you for the $25 billion won. I had no idea you had everything planned. I really thought all the money was gone. I am so grateful for everything you have done for my sisters. And I. I want to apologise for getting angry with you that day in court. I think about it all the time. I was so stupid. I also want to apologise for leaving you that day when we were supposed to go to Europe together. For some reason I seem to cause you no end of trouble. I owe you so much. I can never repay you.
I don’t know if you will get to read this. I hope you do. If you do, I hope this finds you well. If you're ever back in Seoul, I would love to cook a meal for you.
Regards
Oh In-joo
She had written a second one a couple of weeks later.
Hi Manager Choi
How are you again? I heard some people in my yoga class mention Greece today and I immediately thought of you. A member of the class went there on her honeymoon and just came back. Everyone was green with envy. Greece sounds like an amazing place to retire. I can understand why you’re not keen to return.
I hope you’re enjoying your time in Greece. The weather has been terrible here. You’re lucky to be where you are.
Hope this finds you well.
Regards
Oh In-joo
A third one was posted a few days later after that. He detected a decided change of tone.
Hi Manager Choi
It’s me again. I hope I’m not bothering you. Hope you’re well.
I went to Stepwell’s today and ordered myself a nice big steak. The steak was good but staring at an empty seat across the table felt… I don’t know… empty.
I’ve been on a handful of blind dates. There was this one time when my date was even more nervous than I. He barely said more than a few words the entire time. Poor guy. I thought he was going to faint. When I went home, I went to bed laughing. There was another guy I met. All he wanted to do was sell me insurance. I told him I didn’t need any because I ‘m not married nor do I have any children.
Last night I went to a fundraiser for an anti-child trafficking non-profit. I met a very interesting man there. A tech CEO or something. He was friendly. At least he wasn’t trying to sell me anything.
Did I mention I started English classes? Surprised, right? Yeah, I'm not very good at studying but I’m planning to travel overseas soon so I thought I should be able to say more than a few words.
Regards
Oh In-joo
The final one was dated only three days earlier.
Hi Manager Choi
I don’t know why I keep sending these emails. Maybe on the off chance that you will read them. You must think me stupid. I guess I have far too much time on my hands.
I wonder where you are in Greece. Someone else from yoga class is planning a European trip. It’s giving me ideas. Sometimes I think I should have gone with you when you invited me. Maybe I will head to Europe soon and visit In-hye.
I’m missing everyone so much.
Regards
Oh In-joo
He slammed the laptop shut.
A wave of panic seized him at the mention of blind dates. Had he left things too late? Those damn Russians. Why did they show up when they did? A week was too long. He had to get on the next available flight.
Yiannis could keep an eye on things while he was away. An old retired bank manager who spent a great deal of time pottering in his garden. Friendly fellow. Honest too. He could be relied upon to look after things for a week or two. There was nothing of value to speak of. No mail to pick up. He had kept everything simple on purpose. There was the cleaning lady from two streets away. Ana. He’d call them once he was sure that a return trip was on the cards.
It was the last thing he did before he got into the taxi. He switched on his phone. It was the final act signalling his return to civilization. The number of text messages that came through was a non-stop stream of beeps. The most recent ones were mostly from one person. Andy. London Andy it was.
Call me as soon as you read this. You’ve been off-grid for too long. Important developments.
It sounded urgent. So Do-il did what he was told.
“Finally. Good to know you’re not dead.” The voice on the other side sounded amused.
“As if you care. But what’s the emergency? Flooding my phone with messages. It's not like you."
“Curious now, aren’t you? So you should be.”
“I’m on tenterhooks. So spill.”
“It’s about that woman.”
“What woman? Don’t keep me in suspense.”
“How many women do you know?”
“Are you going to waste my time with guessing games? I’m going to hang up.”
“Calm down. The one you went to Singapore with. Remember her?”
“Yeah. What about her?” His ears shot up.
“Did you know… I guess not… if you’ve gone off grid this whole time.”
“Know what? Tell me before we both grow old and die.”
“She’s engaged. To some tech entrepreneur.”
“Engaged?” He echoed. “What do mean engaged?”
“She’s going to marry some rich guy who makes financial and security apps.”
Do-il let the words sink into his stomach. “Not possible.”
“It’s all over the news. Look it up yourself if you don’t believe me. I’ll send you the link. I only found out because his company is looking for investors.”
“This is ridiculous. Why would she?”
“He probably proposed and she accepted. That’s usually the order in which these things happen.”
“No, I mean why would she accept his proposal?”
“Oh I don’t know. Why do women accept a man’s proposal? Maybe just maybe she is in love with him.”
“Impossible.”
“You seem rather sure for a guy who hasn’t been near the internet for almost 3 months. Anything can happen you know. People meet, fall in love, date. That’s what people do. She met the right guy and said ‘yes’.”
“Impossible.”
“So you keep saying.” Andy let the dead air to settle awkwardly. “Did you and her have some kind of fling?”
Do-il made no response. Andy could picture the wheels churning over in the other man’s mind. Hatching some kind of scheme.
“A woman can’t wait for a man forever.”
“Before I left I told her that I would be back.”
“Three months is a long time in this day and age.”
“So you say.”
“What are you going to do?”
“I’m half way to the airport.”
“Impeccable timing as always.”
“None of this makes sense.” The fingers of Do-il’s free hand had gradually formed a fist.
“You snooze you loose chingu.”
Duly chastised, Do-il hung up. He mined the article for details and dug around other sites. Park Hae-shin. That was the name of this alleged fiancé. He skimmed through his bio. Co-founder of Alpha Tech. A billionaire at 35. Graduate of SNU. A postgrad degree from Stanford in cybersecurity. Current project: Security software for financial institutions.
The email. The one from Oh In-joo. The one about blind dates. She did mention meeting some CEO guy. But when was that? She said nothing about an engagement. But there was that picture of her with that man staring him in the face.
He let loose an expletive that had been fermenting in his vocal cords. A string of curse words muttered in repentance followed closely behind. Damn the Chekhov brothers. Terrible timing as usual. He should have been in Seoul 10 weeks ago. All this would have been preventable. His gut was telling him that this thing had a foul odour of something rotting at the back of a sofa of the same amount of time. It was his own stupid fault for hiding out. But recriminations were useless. Crying over spilt milk when the deed was done.Too late. He had to get to the bottom of things. Would he be in time to fix it? That was the 25 billion won question.
Engagement not marriage. There’s time. There’s time.
He tapped his fingers on the seat beside him. His gaze shifted from the phone to the window. He peered out and saw outlines of objects. Cypress. Shops. Stalls. Vehicles. Billboards. Signs. They fused together in a blur. He only saw colours.