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Baek Hyun-woo is sad.
No.
He’s devastated and miserable. The alcohol is not helping him, but he needs it now. It’s been three days, and he’s desperate.
Why him? Why not his other staff? Yeah, it’s Pione Investment whatever, so?
“Yah! Cheer up! It’s not every day that we’re in New York!” Kim Yang-gi pats his friend on the shoulder.
Baek Hyun-woo huffs.
“Please keep Baek Hyun-woo company and make sure he doesn’t roll his sleeves… ever,” his wife had said to Yang-gi. The CEO of Queens Department Store personally paid for Yang-gi’s trip to accompany her husband to the Queens Group legal hearing in New York, and Yang-gi is having the time of his life.
Hyun-woo huffs again. He hates this. He misses his baby Soo-bin. She has just turned six months, and soon she will be able to walk.
“Soo-bin will start walking and I won’t be able to see that, Yang-gi ya!”
“She can’t even sit by herself yet, Hyun-woo ya.”
“I won’t be there to hear her first word…”
“She’s just a six-month-old baby; she won’t be able to do that.”
“What if she misses her dad?”
“She won’t even remember you with her mother around.”
Hyun-woo shoots a disgusted look at Yang-gi, who shrugs him off.
“That’s the case with me. My daughter only reaches out to me when she’s in trouble with her mom.”
“Well, not Soo-bin ie. She always calls out to me.”
“You sure?” Yang-gi smirks. “I was pretty sure she was sleeping soundly on your wife when we left.”
“You just don’t know. I miss her, Yang-gi ya…” Hyun-woo sobs.
“Just your daughter?”
“Un…”
“How about the mother?” Hyun-woo stares at his best friend, pouting.
He hates his wife for making him go on this trip. Lie.
He’ll miss his baby Soo-bin when she starts to crawl or walk or blow bubbles. He will miss a lot of Soo-bin’s firsts. All because of a certain Hong Hae-in. Lie.
His eyes land on a poster on the back wall of the Korean bar. She looks awfully similar to his wife. He turns his eyes away.
I hate you.
Lie.
“Hyun-woo yah, stop pouting, or CEO Hong will kill me.”
“Good, who asked you to befriend her? You are my friend.”
“Yah, I should be thankful she didn’t hunt me down for being your divorce lawyer!”
Hyun-woo takes another gulp of the soju. It’s not fair. Why must he be here when his wife is in Seoul with his daughter? Why can’t he just stay with his wife and let the other Queen’s lawyers handle this case? Why can’t his wife come with him? Why must he leave his wife behind? What if anything happens to her? To them?
A certain sweet and spicy smell registers in his brain. “I must be crazy… I can smell Hae-in’s perfume now.” His eyes go to the poster. “It smells like you, Hong Hae-in!”
“Who are you talking to?” Yang-gi’s eyes follow Hyun-woo’s and he laughs. It’s a poster of a South Korean actress promoting soju, who, Yang-gi can’t deny, resembles CEO Hong.
“I hate you. Why are you doing this to me? My heart hurts so much that I have to leave you. Just let others do this. Why must you send me here? Now I’m like this and you’re not here!” Tears spill from Hyun-woo’s eyes.
Yang-gi sighs. He will surely get some serious lecture afterward. “You’ll get me in trouble, man… I’ll leave him here for you to take care of, CEO Hong.” Yang-gi turns his eyes to his best friend’s wife who has just arrived at the bar. She stands in front of her husband, a smile tugging on her lips.
“Can I sit here?” she asks in English to an obviously drunk Hyun-woo.
“No,” he replies in English, shaking his head, “you cannot sit here.”
“Why?”
“I have a wife, see?” Hyun-woo raises his left hand, showing off his wedding band but his eyes still refusing to even look up to the slender figure. Hae-in smiles, amused.
“Really? What if I really want to sit here?”
“I’ll report you to the police.”
Hae-in chuckles. “Then tangshin, you have to come and bail me out,” Hae-in says in Korean. Hyun-woo slowly lifts his eyes to look at her. He pouts, and her heart skips.
“I told you to not use your fatal move when you’re drinking.” Hae-in sits in front of her husband, leaning back on the chair.
“I didn’t!”
“You just did.”
“To you…”
“And Yang-gi ssi too.”
“He’s immune to it.”
“But still…”
“’Coz I miss you. I miss you so much I’m losing my mind.” Fresh tears form in his eyes. “I was scrolling through my videos, and they were all of Soo-bin ie. I can’t find any video of you… I miss you, Hae-in ah.”
Hae-in smiles thoughtfully. “I miss you too… but for now, let’s go back to your hotel, yeah?” she asks, helping him up. She will just tell him tomorrow that she came to New York because she couldn’t find a solo video of him either. It’s not too late to start recording each other now.