“that’s a funny story actually,” she starts with no reservations whatsoever, even though it’s not—a barefaced lie is all that it really is, but shame disguises itself beneath an unflinching grin. “it was like a meeting straight out of a movie. wasn’t it, hajoon?” sujeong croons, all picture perfect sugary sweet as she reaches over the table to hold hajoon’s hand in her own, grip just a little too taut. no matter the apparent discomfiture in her date as he shifts in his seat and only responds with a wordless nod, sujeong brazenly pushes forward. “we bumped into each other at a noodle place. like, literally. i spilled soup all over hajoon, it was a disaster. and the rest is history, as people say.” a laugh floats them by, right before she pulls together an affect of surprise. “oh—what a coincidence, i just remembered it’s the one we always went to, matthew! say, have you ever brought jiwon there?”
no one can ever come close to how frustrating ahn sujeong gets — and that’s his fault. he’s allowed her to become one of his weaknesses. big mistake.
this constant push and pull could wear even the strongest person. the smart decision is to walk away because if this were a competition, it’s rigged to be unwinnable. what are they to gain from this chase? do they really not want the other to be happy that bad? why is he so damn selfish that he wants to drag her to hell with him?
he can hear his mother’s lecture already.
‘why won’t you let the poor girl go?’
‘she’s playing the same game, mom…’
‘doesn’t mean you have to play. why can’t you walk away?’
he wouldn’t be matthew choi if he walks away from a challenge that easily. and his mother doesn’t know sujeong as well as he does. she’s not as innocent as she makes her out to be; sujeong just wears this facade too well. no one would believe that she’s tossing in gasoline into the flame as much as he’s fanning it.
he used to think that they made the good pair (and maybe he’s holding out hope that they could still be a pair). but it’s getting increasingly clearer that, back then, they were nothing more than children acting like adults. a relationship based on bottled up feelings and repressed emotions will lead to nothing but catastrophe. guess how their relationship ended? if it wasn’t for their friendship, they wouldn’t last as long. both of them were too afraid of breaking things off out of loyalty... or maybe they’re just addicted to each other.
he prides himself on his self-control, but if there’s anything or anyone who can unravel him, that’d be ahn sujeong.
“are you keeping track of the girls i’m with? i’m flattered, really.” it’s good to know that she’s not the only one with control over him. he’s aware of his charms, knows it too well to know how to wield it to his advantage. but it’s good to be reminded once in a while.
jiwon can only dart her eyes back and forth between the two before mumbling a soft “okay” and returning to the menu. matthew, however, seizes a moment to attack. “your warning seems to come from experience, no?” he nonchalantly flips through the menu. “jesus, sujeong, you’re making it sound like i’m some animal.”
he scoffs at her story (did they really happen? hah! unlikely) and fights the urge to roll his eyes. yet, he doesn’t even realise that he has been gripping the menu a little too hard until he notices the dent. “that’s cute,” he croons as he loosens his hold. “you’re always a sucker for those things, aren’t you? everything needs to be as perfect as the movies.”
but his frown is quickly replaced with a smirk that he directs at sujeong, “i never thought about that, actually. thanks for the date idea.” turning to jiwon, matthew provides her with a smile, a genuinely sweet one. “let’s go there tomorrow.” jiwon purses her lips in confusion, the question of ‘i thought this was a one-time thing’ possibly on the tip of her tongue, but matthew brushes it off with a wave of the hand before shifting the topics.
“before i forget, i just want to draw attention to jiwon and her amazing work at the office today. she just closed a deal to design that new hotel in construction over at gangnam.” he glowers at hajoon. “sorry, uh, what do you do?”
