BUSINESS PROPOSAL | jeon jungkook | one
you were supposed to sabotage your best friend's blind date. make him lose interest. scare him off a little, maybe accidentally insult his ego enough that hed go home and tell his parents there had been “no chemistry.” you were absolutely not supposed to make him want to marry her. or technically you in her form.
pairing: ceo!jeon jungkook x you/reader
authors note: a little late hihi. if you want to be added to the taglist let me know in the comments. (pls!! make sure that the feature to tag you is on/activated in your settings.)
sitting in the auditorium wasn't exactly how you had imagined spending your friday morning. honestly, having to work on a friday morning already felt unfair enough. cruel, how you knowingly had to sit here when the weekend was so close, only for reality to remind you that there were still several hours standing between you and two full days of doing absolutely nothing productive.
somehow you had accepted the fact that adulthood involved working five days a week. you had even accepted that fridays weren't magically exempt from meetings, deadlines and emails. what you hadn't and couldn't accepted was being pulled away from your actual work to sit in an auditorium because the company had decided welcoming its new president required an audience. but were you really sad about that?
whoever had organized this had clearly never considered the emotional state of office workers before the weekend. most people (you) were already mentally halfway home, counting down the hours until they could leave, and yet here everyone was, packed into rows waiting for an assembly nobody had volunteered to attend. the room buzzed with quiet conversations that died down whenever someone important walked by, only to pick up again a few seconds later. people leaned toward one another, whispering in small groups, while others pretended to scroll through their phones despite checking the entrance every few moments. even the employees who usually looked ready to fall asleep during the shortest presentations suddenly seemed awake.
well, everyone wanted to know the same thing: what kind of person the new president would be. whether he planned to change anything, whether he was one of those executives who liked to "shake things up", or whether everyone's routines would remain untouched. there were already enough rumors floating around to keep the office entertained for weeks, ranging from complete restructuring to mass layoffs to the comforting possibility that absolutely nothing would happen at all. nobody actually knew anything, which naturally meant everyone had an opinion.
the rumors certainly hadn't helped.
ridiculously wealthy, according to half the company.
which, to be fair, wasn't exactly difficult to believe. he was the new president of your company. someone stepping into a position like that was bound to attract attention, whether they wanted it or not.
for the past week, he'd been the only topic anyone seemed capable of discussing. every coffee break somehow drifted back to him. whispered conversations outside meeting rooms always ended the same way. each person claimed to know something the others didn't, even though every version contradicted the last. nobody seemed willing to admit that, beneath all the speculation, they knew almost nothing.
there was only one rumor everyone repeated with surprising confidence.
apparently, he was exceptionally attractive.
the amusing part was that almost nobody in the company had ever met him. president jeon was a name people knew, but a person they didn't. according to what everyone had heard, he had spent the past few years working overseas, mainly in canada, handling things far away from the company's everyday operations. at least, that was the story everyone repeated.
whether it was completely accurate was another question.
"i heard he's hot," yejin whispered beside you. lowering her voice as though she were passing along highly confidential information instead of the least useful rumor currently circulating through the company.
you turned your head slowly to look at her.
yejin met your stare without the slightest hint of shame. as if she ever felt shame at all.
"what?"you added, "that's what you're worried about?"
"so you're telling me the company gets a new president, and your first concern is not whether he's going to cut budgets or fire people?"
yejin shrugged so casually it was almost insulting.
"those are all possibilities."
"he could make everyone work overtime," you argued.
"he could cut our bonuses."
"he could make this office an absolute nightmare."
what were you expecting? this was yejin.
"but if he is attractive," she said with complete confidence, "at least i'll be miserable in a visually pleasing environment."
you pressed your lips together so hard they almost disappeared.
you genuinely tried not to laugh but you failed.
a quiet laugh escaped before you could stop it, and you shook your head. "you're unbelievable."
but suddenly the lights faded.
yejin leaned closer one last time.
you sighed but before you could come up with a response, someone on the stage stepped forward.
the room went quiet in an instant.
for a second, everyone seemed to wonder the same thing.
a man stood at the podium. and, to be fair, he was definitely good looking. like really good.
he adjusted the microphone calmly, completely unaware or maybe completely uninterested in the silent evaluation happening across the room.
"good morning," he said, his voice steady and controlled. "i'm mr. kim namjoon, chief secretary to president jeon. i'll be speaking on his behalf today."
a quiet disappointment moved through the auditorium almost immediately. or through you.
a few sighs escaped. someone behind you muttered something under their breath. another person shifted in their seat like they had been personally tricked by the universe.
he simply looked down at the papers in his hands and continued with the same calm expression, completely unaffected by the fact that an entire room had just collectively lost a little bit of excitement.
"i'll now deliver president jeon's inaugural address."
the room settled again, slower this time, accepting that this was all they were getting for now. curiosity hadn't disappeared, though. if anything, it had only grown stronger.
after all, if a man nobody had ever met could create this much anticipation before even stepping into the building, everyone wanted to know what kind of person president jeon actually was.
"first," he said evenly, "thank you to everyone who organized today's ceremony despite me explicitly saying i didn't want one."
for a second, the entire room seemed to process the sentence at the same time.
then you slowly turned toward jimin your other coworker who was really quite till now. very unlike him.
"honest," he corrected immediately.
beside you, yejin leaned forward slightly, her expression changing as if she was trying to rebuild her entire impression of president jeon based solely on the first ten seconds of a message delivered by someone else.
namjoon continued without hesitation.
"i hope that moving forward, we'll meet for business matters rather than impractical ceremonial events."
another silence settled over the auditorium.
it wasn't the same kind of silence from before. the disappointment of not seeing him was still there, but it had been replaced by something closer to confusion. nobody knew whether they were supposed to find the message arrogant, reasonable, or somehow both at the same time.
jimin leaned slightly closer to you, lowering his voice as the people around you started whispering again.
"i don't know who mr. jeon is."
"but i think i like him."
you let out a quiet breath of laughter.
"he canceled his own ceremony," jimin said, as if that alone explained everything. "that's efficient."
"or slightly terrifying."
"those aren't mutually exclusive."
you shook your head, still looking toward the stage where namjoon remained completely unaffected by the reactions around him. he simply continued readin as if delivering a message from a man nobody had ever met to an entire room full of curious employees was part of his everyday schedule.
and maybe, based on what everyone had heard about president jeon, that was exactly the kind of thing people expected from him.
when namjoon reached, what you assume, the end of the page, he paused briefly, his eyes moving over the lines before looking back up. "president jeon will properly introduce himself soon," he said.
the lights brightened again. chairs shifted, conversations restarted, and you could hear theories began forming before anyone had even left their seats.
yejin turned toward you, completely serious now.
"okay, but he looks really hot." dear god.
"since it's ms. y/n's birthday, i made reservations at auntie's street food for our team dinner today. ms. y/n's favorite."
the announcement barely had time to settle before the office reacted as if someone had just delivered the most exciting news of the entire week. which, considering how everyone had spent the last few days buried under deadlines and meetings, wasn't even that much of an exaggeration. apparently, the promise of free food and leaving work together was enough.
within seconds, conversations started overlapping. people began discussing what they wanted to order, who was going to sit where, and whether they should get extra portions of certain dishes, even though nobody had even left the office yet.
well quite frankly the office and the people was only jimin, yejin, sora and you. something about "we don't need a big group of people checking the quality of the food" acting like it was a job for four.
"all right, how long has it been since we actually went out together like this?" jimin said loudly, looking at you with far more enthusiasm than he ever showed in your years of working here.
you blinked when you noticed the attention slowly shifting toward you, and despite the warmth that came with realizing they had thought about you, you still felt slightly uncomfortable being the center of it. birthdays had never really been something you made a big deal out of, especially not at work.
"you guys really didn't have to do that just for my birthday," you said with a small smile, trying to make it sound more casual than it actually felt. "but thank you."
"what are you talking about?" jimin replied immediately, his expression making it seem like you had just suggested something completely unreasonable. "as a team, we stick together. birthdays are basically mandatory emotional maintenance."
you looked at him for a second. calm down sassy queen.
he said it with such certainty that arguing against him made no sense at all. jimin had a strange ability to say something completely made up and deliver it with enough confidence that, for a brief moment, you wondered if you had somehow missed an official announcement.
yejin, who had been listening beside him, slowly nodded.
"the concerning part is that sometimes people let him get away with this."
"because i'm convincing."
"because people get tired."
you shook your head, laughing quietly despite yourself as the office continued to fill with noise. people were already collecting their things, pulling on jackets, and making plans for the evening as if the dinner had somehow erased the exhaustion from the entire day. it was almost impressive how quickly everyone forgot about deadlines the moment there was food involved.
not that you could blame them.
after all, a team dinner was probably one of the few things that could make everyone willingly stay together after spending eight hours in the same building.
your phone vibrated in your pocket at exactly the moment everyone started getting ready to leave.
which was either terrible timing or suspiciously perfect timing.
for a second, the noise around you continued as normal, but your attention had already shifted. the conversations, the laughter, the sound of chairs moving and bags being picked up all blurred slightly into the background as you looked down at the message waiting on your screen.
taehyung [4:08p.m.]: seeing you today?
you stared at it longer than necessary.
because technically, it was just a question. a normal question. something that didn't require a complicated reaction. but unfortunately, your brain had never been particularly good at treating taehyung like a normal person, and apparently today was not going to be the day it started.
a simple message. a simple, harmless message. you reaped in your head.
and yet, somehow, it still managed to shift something in your chest in a way you couldn't immediately name. that quite familiar feeling. it was just a question, a few ordinary words from someone you happened to know very well and somehow still couldn't quite understand. there was nothing special about the message itself, but the fact that it was from him seemed to be enough to make your entire brain react like it had received something much more complicated.
which was honestly a little embarrassing.
your thumb hovered over the screen for a moment before you finally let out a quiet breath and slipped your phone back into your pocket after a quick reply. hopefully your expression hadn't changed too noticeably. but unfortunately, still a small smile crept its way slowly to your lips. staying there just long enough for you to notice it and immediately become annoyed with yourself for noticing it.
apparently, one message was all it took.
you made your way over to sora's desk. "sora," you said, leaning slightly toward her desk, "i can't make it to dinner tonight."
sora looked up at you. and the lack of surprise on her face immediately told you that she had already figured out the reason.
she slowly leaned back in her chair, studying you with that calm, slightly too observant expression she always had when she was about to say something you probably didn't want to hear.
"and that definitely has nothing to do with a man," she said, tilting her head slightly, "and the fact that your dead eyes suddenly look like they remembered how to function?"
"yeah," she replied casually, "those."
you stared at her for a moment before letting out a quiet breath that was halfway between a laugh and surrender.
you opened your mouth to argue, then closed it again because unfortunately, there wasn't much of an argument available. instead, you adjusted the strap of your bag and looked away, accepting that trying to defend yourself would probably only make her more convinced she was right.
"yes," you admitted eventually. "something like that."
sora raised an eyebrow but didn't push any further.
"plan change and only us three without y/n."
before you could escape, yejin's voice came from the side.
"so it's going to be just us without the birthday girl?"
she leaned back in her chair with exaggerated disappointment, looking almost personally betrayed by the situation. considering she had been completely ready to spend the evening eating good food and avoiding work-related thoughts.
you glanced at her while adjusting your bag.
jimin, who had been sitting nearby, placed a hand over his chest, looking genuinely offended, and then slowly mouthed one word at you.
you stared at him. did i not say? sassy.
because apparently missing one dinner had officially become a betrayal of the team.
you couldn't help the small laugh that escaped as you shook your head. "you'll survive," you said, already stepping away before he could turn this into another dramatic argument. "have fun without me."
jimin narrowed his eyes at you, clearly still committed to the performance, and then exaggerated his expression even further, silently forming another accusation with his lips as if he wanted to make sure you understood the emotional damage you had caused.
you didn't even try to figure out what he was saying. you simply waved him off and started walking away.
"i'm going," you added, more to yourself than anyone else, already moving toward the exit as the familiar.
outside, the air felt cooler than it probably should have for the time of day. your attention was already somewhere else, divided between watching where you were walking, trying to keep your bag from slipping off your shoulder again, and pretending you weren't thinking about the fact that your phone had started ringing before you had even properly decided where you were going.
you already knew who it was before you looked.
you answered without hesitation, which, you know probably deserved at least a little more consideration.
"what is the birthday girl doing right now?" her voice came through instant. bright and far too energetic for someone who had apparently been stuck working overtime. "since i have to work overtime."
you smiled despite yourself, because of course she sounded like she had been waiting for the exact second you answered.
"but still, it's your birthday." she let out a long, exaggerated sigh."do you understand how unfair this is? i'm supposed to be there. i'm your best friend. i've earned birthday privileges."
you adjusted your bag as you continued walking.
"yes," she said immediately, completely serious. "annoying you in person. stealing food from your plate. reminding you that you're not allowed to pretend your birthday is just another normal day. i had an entire plan."
"that sounds exhausting."
"it was going to be exhausting," she corrected without hesitation. "for you."
"but seriously," she continued after a moment, her voice softening slightly. "i do feel bad. i've been thinking about it all day. every few minutes i remembered it was your birthday and thought, 'wow, i'm actually the worst best friend alive.'"
"i know," she replied immediately.
"because i know myself better than anyone else does," she said confidently. "i'm dramatic, but i'm also usually correct about my own greatness."
"that's not how that works."
you shook your head, already knowing there was no point arguing.
"so," she continued, changing the subject, "what are you doing?"
then came the sound. that quiet little "mm" that immediately made you suspicious. of course she noticed.
you hesitated for half a second.
which, unfortunately, was probably enough information by itself.
there was silence on the other end.
you stopped walking for a moment, mostly because you needed to process how quickly the conversation had changed direction.
"i spent the whole morning thinking, 'wow, my poor best friend. it's her birthday and i can't even be there.'" she paused, letting the dramatic sadness of her earlier thoughts exist for exactly two seconds before destroying it herself. "turns out you're spending it with the guy you've been losing your mind over for ages."
"what?" she asked, completely unbothered.
"stop what? teasing you about your crush? when wilk you even confess?never or never?" you could practically hear the smile in her voice.
"look, i'm still sad i can't be there," she added, sounding a little more genuine. "obviously. i wanted to spend your birthday with you. but i'm happy that you're at least not sitting alone in your room eating convenience store food and staring sadly out a window."
you couldn't help laughing.
"i wasn't going to do that."
"i know. but you know i have a talent for making things sound like they could happen."
you shook your head, smiling as you continued walking.
there was a short pause after. then she hummed quietly.
"actually, that reminds me."
you immediately became suspicious.
young-seo had a very specific way of introducing a topic when she had been thinking about it for longer than she wanted to admit.
your steps slowed slightly.
"the one i found at the restaurant and showed you hello?."
you didn't answer right away, and you already knew that the silence probably told her more than you wanted it to.
"i've been thinking about it," she continued. "and the more i think about it, the less i believe your explanation."
you sighed quietly because there was no point stopping her once she had decided she was making an argument.
"the packaging wasn't cheap, there was a handwritten card inside, and it wasn't exactly something someone accidentally leaves behind without noticing. i mean, unless people have started abandoning expensive jewelry as some kind of weird public service, i don't really see how your explanation makes sense."
you looked down at the necklace in your hand, turning it slightly between your fingers.
"you still think it's nothing?"
"i think," you said, "that it's probably just a misunderstanding."
you already knew what that meant.
"i'm just appreciating how committed you are to pretending everything is completely normal."
you could practically hear her expression through the phone.
"you literally told me before that it was too thoughtful to be something you'd expect from 'just friends.'"
"i never said it exactly like that."
"you're remembering it differently."
"no, i'm remembering it correctly. you're just editing the conversation now because the original version makes you uncomfortable."
you let out a quiet groan.
"stop analyzing my life."
"i'm not analyzing your life."
"no," she corrected calmly. "i'm observing patterns."
"that's literally the same."
you smiled despite yourself.
the restaurant came into. light spilling through the windows. you slowed slightly before entering, suddenly becoming aware of every small thing you had successfully ignored until that exact moment. your hair, your clothes, your expression, the way you were standing, even the way you were breathing somehow felt like something you should be paying attention to.
maybe your brain had a point.
"romantic dinner incoming," young-seo's voice immediately appeared in your head, completely uninvited and incredibly unhelpful.
"shut up," you muttered under your breath, even though there was obviously no one there to hear you.
you caught your reflection in the glass one last time and adjusted your collar, fixed your grip on your bag, and attempted to make your expression look like that of a completely normal person arriving at a completely normal dinner.
whether you succeeded was questionable. but at some point, you had to stop preparing for a moment that was already happening.
so you pushed the door open.
taehyung looked up almost immediately.
the moment he noticed you, he stood and walked toward you with two plates in his hands, looking completely relaxed, as if this was just an ordinary thing and not something that had caused your thoughts to become unnecessarily complicated for the past several hours.
"just sit," he said simply. "i'll bring everything."
you obeyed much faster than you intended to.
the table was already prepared when you reached it, candles flickering softly in the middle, the kind of small detail that should have been easy to ignore but somehow wasn't. you stood there for a second longer than necessary, trying to convince yourself that it wasn't meaningful, that it was just a nice setup for dinner.
your brain, unfortunately, was not convinced.
when taehyung returned, he placed the dishes down carefully and sat across from you like nothing about the situation needed further explanation.
"i made japchae," he said. "your favorite."
something in your chest tightened slightly.
small but annoyingly noticeable.
he looked at you as if the answer was obvious.
you immediately tried to brush it off, because apparently accepting kindness normally was not something your brain was interested in doing.
"you really didn't have to—"
"it's your birthday," he interrupted gently. "today is for you."
you laughed softly, but it didn't completely hide the way the words affected you. the conversation continued easily after that, moving between simple topics and familiar jokes, everything comfortable on the surface while something quieter remained underneath.
and maybe that was the problem.
because with taehyung, even ordinary moments had a habit of feeling more significant than they probably were.
after dinner came dessert.
another thing he somehow remembered.
and just when you thought you had finally settled into the evening, he stood again and reached into his apron pocket.
naturally, your brain reacted immediately.
because apparently a man reaching into his pocket during your birthday dinner was enough to make your thoughts jump ahead before you had any control over them.
he pulled out an envelope.
your stomach dropped slightly before you even understood why.
a simple envelope. not the necklace?
the realization felt strangely disappointing.
which was honestly ridiculous.
because why exactly were you disappointed about a necklace that had never belonged to you, had never been promised to you, and had only become important because your own imagination had decided to make it important?
apparently, your brain had decided that creating emotional attachment to an object you didn't even own was a completely reasonable hobby.
he placed it in front of you with the same calm expression he always had, completely unaware that small gestures tended to stay in your mind much longer than they probably should.
"happy birthday, y/n," taehyung said, bringing your attention back to the envelope in your hands. "tickets to your favorite singer's concert."
you looked down at the envelope, momentarily unsure what to say. it wasn't just the fact that he had bought the tickets. it was the fact that he had remembered. you had mentioned the concert once, casually, without expecting him to actually keep it in mind, and somehow that small detail made the gift feel much more personal than the tickets themselves. which was inconvenient, because apparently your heart had decided that remembering one small comment was enough to become emotionally significant.
it was a good gift. a meaningful gift.
you should have been completely happy. and you were. mostly. except your mind kept circling back to the necklace.
and now you had an answer.
it wasn't for you. if it wasn't for you, then who was it for?
you immediately disliked how quickly that thought appeared.
because what exactly were you supposed to do with that information? start making a list of possible people? investigate his gift history? casually wonder who else he might have been thinking about?
you looked down at the tickets in your hands and reminded yourself that he was sitting right there. that he had remembered your favorite singer. that he had taken the time to do something thoughtful for your birthday.
"they weren't easy to get," he added, almost immediately making the moment feel less serious again. "so make sure you actually go."
you looked back up at him, smiling slightly because, of course, even after doing something thoughtful, he somehow managed to make it sound like a simple practical matter. as if he hadn't spent time finding something you liked, as if this wasn't your birthday, as if your brain hadn't already started creating unnecessary meaning out of everything.
for a second, you just stared at him, waiting for him to laugh or explain that he was joking. because surely that was the part where he was supposed to realize how that sounded. unfortunately, taehyung simply smiled like he had just given you the most obvious advice in the world.
"thank you taehyung. you didn't have to do that." a smile on your lips. at least something that resembled a smike.
"friends do this kind of thing."
of course. right. friends do this kid of thing. what were you even expecting? a necklace?
you lowered your gaze to your hands before your expression could betray you. your throat tightened slightly, and you swallowed once, then again, as if your body had decided that a normal reaction would be far too easy and therefore unnecessary. unfortunately, the dramatic internal performance continued without your approval.
you blamed the lighting at first.
the warm lamps. the candles on the table making everything look suspiciously more emotional than a regular dinner probably deserved.
restaurants really did have questionable timing.
they created a romantic atmosphere, played soft music, made people sit across from each other while sharing food, and then acted surprised when someone accidentally developed feelings. honestly, the entire concept felt slightly suspicious.
unfortunately, the problem remained.
you pressed your lips together, trying to collect yourself before he noticed anything.
his smile slowly faded, not completely disappearing, but changing into something more concerned. he tilted his head slightly as he studied your face, his expression quiet and difficult to read.
you looked up a little too quickly.
"the gift." his voice stayed gentle. "you don't look very happy."
for a moment, you didn't know what to say.
because technically, he was right.
you probably didn't look happy.
you wondered what he saw. whether he noticed the way your eyes kept avoiding his, the way you were holding yourself too carefully, the way your smile appeared slightly delayed because you had to remember to put it there.
convincing someone you were fine was where things became complicated.
"of course i am," you said, forcing out a small laugh. "it's just—"
because the actual explanation was impossible.
how exactly were you supposed to say: "thank you for the thoughtful birthday gift, unfortunately my brain is currently distracted because you casually reminded me that i am only your friend"?
probably not the ideal birthday conversation.
"unexpected," you finished instead.
he watched you quietly for another moment, trying to understand something that didn't fully make sense. because apparently your words and your face had decided to have completely different opinions.
"i thought you'd like it."
the answer came immediately.
and that was the frustrating part.
you loved the gift. you loved that he remembered something you had mentioned. you loved that he had taken the time to choose something based on your interests and somehow still acted like it was nothing special.
none of that was the problem.
the problem was that he had done it as your friend.
and somehow, that simple fact was the one detail your heart had conveniently forgotten to consider.
the silence between you stretched gently after that, and you realized you probably couldn't stay much longer. every additional minute made it harder to keep your expression under control, and you had the uncomfortable feeling that if you stayed, you might accidentally reveal something you had spent months trying to hide.
the chair scraped against the floor, causing a few nearby people to glance over before returning to their own conversations.
they probably had much more normal birthday dinners happening.
"i should go," you said, already reaching for your bag. "my parents probably need some help."
the excuse sounded weak the second you said it.
even you didn't believe it.
which was not exactly encouraging for your imaginary acting career.
but taehyung didn't question it.
he simply nodded, accepting the explanation without making you defend it.
"of course," he said softly. "should i pack something for you?"
the answer came far too quickly.
you cleared your throat and tried again.
you focused on your bag strap instead of looking at him. because looking at him felt dangerous now. one kind expression, one gentle smile, one more reminder that he cared about you in all the ways that somehow still weren't the way you wanted.
"thank you," you said quietly.
and you weren't even sure anymore what you were thanking him for.
or maybe for unintentionally making something clear that you had spent far too long hoping would stay uncertain. friends.
that same effortless warmth that had made everything complicated.
he wasn't trying to hurt you. that was the worst part. if he had been careless, if he had been distant, if he had done something obviously wrong, maybe it would have been easier.
he was thoughtful. he was kind. he was exactly the person you had always known him to be. and maybe that was why it hurt.
because you had spent so much time worrying about saying the wrong thing that you had never considered he might not even realize there had been something left unsaid.
you managed one last smile.
this time, you didn't wait for another reply.
you turned, walked toward the door, and pushed it open before either of you had the chance to add anything else.
which was probably for the best.
because apparently your emotional stability had already suffered enough damage for one evening.
your parents restaurant was louder than usual. filled to the brim with loud customers you had grown up inside of without ever really questioning it. orders were called out across the kitchen in overlapping voices, plates clinked somewhere near the counter, and the music your father refused to change because you quote "it was so hip." the smell of fried chicken, garlic, soy sauce and oil hung in the air, you could swear had already clung to your clothes within minutes.
you were standing in the kitchen helping your mother, hands moving out of habit, coating chicken pieces in flour and seasoning while your mind kept slipping somewhere else entirely, refusing to stay in the present no matter how many times you tried to pull it back. it kept returning to the same sentence,
you pressed the coating into another piece of chicken a little harder than necessary, watching the flour stick unevenly before correcting it with practiced fingers. the problem wasn't that you didn't understand what he had said, it was that you understood it too clearly, cleanly enough that there was no space left for misinterpretation, no comforting ambiguity to soften the edges. it had been simple, but your mind had turned it over so many times it no longer felt simple at all.
friendzoned to say it in easier words.
you had been put in the friend zone before you could even confess anything. not that you liked him. you absolutely did not. not in that way. but if, for some completely theoretical reason, you did like him, then congratulations; you were already trapped in the friend zone with no way out.
"mom," you called suddenly, voice sharper than intended.
she turned slightly, startled. "gosh, what? you scared me."
you exhaled, already gesturing toward the bowl in her hands as she was about to drop the chicken into the fryer. "i told you, you have to coat it properly if you want it crispy. you can't just toss it in and hope for the best, you have to be thorough or the batter won't stick."
your mother looked at you for a moment, then down at the bowl, completely unbothered. "but i am tossing it."
"that's not the same thing."
you let out a long breath, taking the bowl from her before she could argue further, instinctively slipping into the role you had never officially been given but somehow always ended up in. "if we're not going to do things properly, we should just close the shop," you muttered, already pressing the seasoning in the way you had shown her countless times.
from the front, your father laughed loudly enough that you didn't even need to see him to know he was grinning. "listen to her," he called out proudly. "future ceo of fried chicken."
your mother sighed. "more like dictator of fried chicken."
you ignored both of them or tried to.
"that's why the chicken y/n makes always tastes the best," a familiar voice said from the dining area.
you looked up briefly. mr. han was sitting at his usual table, smiling. a egular-customer. still hard to tell whether he was genuinely complimenting you or just enjoying his routine of teasing your father. you gave him a small polite smile in return.
"of course it does," your father answered before you could, chest puffed out with obvious pride. "she works at a major company, after all. discipline carries over."
you slowly turned your head toward him. "dad."
"how exactly does office work translate into better fried chicken?"
he thought about it for a second. "precision."
your mother rolled her eyes so hard you briefly worried she might dislocate something. "must not be very fun working on your birthday," another customer added sympathetically from nearby.
before you could respond, your mother spoke instead, completely unfiltered as always. "please, i spent twenty hours in labor giving birth to her. compared to that, her working a birthday shift is nothing."
the kitchen went quiet for a beat.
you closed your eyes briefly. "mom."
"what?" she asked innocently.
"why do you always bring that up."
your father nodded solemnly like this was an established fact in science. "she did almost break my hand." how tragic.
"nobody needed that detail."
despite yourself, a small laugh slipped out of you. you focused a little harder on the chicken in front of you as if it could keep your thoughts from drifting again. but even as you worked, even as the restaurant noise filled every corner of the space, that same sentence found its way back in, softer this time, almost patient.
you swallowed slightly, pressing another piece into the bowl.
you were counting the cash register after closing, sorting the bills while matching the receipts one by one. after an entire day of smiling at customers, explaining the menu, carrying trays, and apologizing for things that weren't even your fault, silence should have felt comforting. instead, all you could hear was the humming refrigerator and the clinking of coins between your fingers.
"what's the point of group reservations?" you sighed while still counting the money.
without looking up, you flipped another receipt over and checked the total. "you give them a discount," you said annoyed. "and then they spend the entire evening filling themselves up with the free side dishes instead of ordering anything."
a tired laugh spread through the restaurant.
you leaned back for a second, rubbing your eyes before letting out a long breath.
"hey, y/n," your mother called from the kitchen entrance. "don't you have a boyfriend who could throw you a birthday party or something?" the irony was almost impressive, considering she had somehow managed to mention the one thing you very much did not have.
you opened your mouth, already preparing a sarcastic answer, when a voice from outside cut through the restaurant so loudly that everyone froze.
"i didn't leave anything in front of your store!"
you exchanged a confused look with your parents before instinctively moving toward the entrance.
the moment you stepped outside, the scene answered the question for you.
your younger brother was standing in the middle of the narrow street, pointing furiously at the owner of the seafood restaurant across from yours. between them sat a large plastic bucket.
"i told you i saw it!" your brother shouted, his voice echoing down the street.
his accusation carried far more confidence than most people his age could manage, which was both impressive and slightly concerning.
the restaurant owner barely reacted.
he stood in front of his entrance with the kind of expression that suggested this entire situation was nothing more than a minor inconvenience in his way too busy day. not a serious argument. not a problem. just another annoying interruption between him and whatever he had actually planned to do.
"you've got a big mouth for a kid," he replied, completely unimpressed.
"yes, i do!" your brother fired back immediately.
you almost sighed. of course he did.
there were many possible ways to respond to an insult. ignoring it. walking away. pretending to be the bigger person.
your brother, unfortunately, had never shown much interest in any of those options.
you hurried over, grabbing his arm before he could take another step closer.
instead of answering, he pointed furiously toward the bucket sitting between the two restaurants, his entire body practically vibrating with frustration.
"why is it always in front of our store?"
the question had been asked so many times that you could almost hear the exhaustion behind it. your family had spent years trying to avoid unnecessary conflicts, especially with neighbors, especially with people who seemed determined to create them.
but apparently, avoiding conflict only worked if the other person was also interested in avoiding it.
"i put it there for one minute because a customer parked in front of ours."
then, without another word, he kicked the bucket across the pavement toward your family's entrance.
the sound of the bucket scraping against the concrete was somehow more irritating than the argument itself.
"you do it every chance you get," your brother accused, refusing to let the matter disappear.
"did you actually see me do it?" the owner asked, raising an eyebrow. "or are you just making things up again?"
"it's obvious!" your brother said it like it was the simplest fact in the world.
your mother had already joined the argument by then, still wearing her apron from the kitchen, a clear sign that she had left in the middle of work because apparently managing a restaurant and managing unreasonable neighbors were both somehow included in her daily responsibilities.
"we keep finding fish bones outside our restaurant," she said, her voice sharper than usual. "we don't sell fish. we sell chicken."
"take it," the owner replied without the slightest trace of embarrassment.
he nudged the bucket toward your family again with his foot. "we don't sell fish either."
"it literally says it right there," you and your mother said at the exact same time.
both of you pointed toward the menu hanging inside his front window.
"fish. dried fish. mackerel. squid," your mother continued, counting each item with growing disbelief. "what exactly are we supposed to think?"
the owner didn't even bother turning around.
another careless kick sent the bucket sliding over the pavement.
your father stepped between everyone before another argument could grow into something worse. he raised both hands, the universal gesture of someone who had spent years learning how to calm people down before they made situations impossible to fix.
"come on," he said calmly. "we're all neighbors here. there's no need to fight. let's just talk this through."
"i'm doing this so we don't have to fight," the owner replied coldly.
your brother let out a bitter laugh.
before anyone could react, he bent down, grabbed the bucket with both hands and shoved it straight against the owner's chest.
for the first time during the entire argument, he actually looked surprised.
he stumbled back slightly before immediately pushing the bucket away from himself.
"this is a new shirt!" he shouted. "i had it shipped from abroad!"
because apparently, in the middle of an argument about fish bones and restaurant boundaries, the most important victim was his ugly shirt. i mean look at the colours. since when do yellow and purple match?
he shoved the bucket back toward your brother.
"you take it. do whatever you want with it."
you stepped between them before your brother could throw it again, pulling the bucket out of his hands.
you never finished the sentence.
maybe it was exhaustion.maybe it was watching your parents apologize over and over to people who never seemed to think they owed anyone the same courtesy. maybe it was the years of swallowing frustration because keeping peace always seemed easier than admitting you were tired of being the only ones trying. or maybe it was the dinner with taehyung, him friendzoning you.
whatever the reason was, your body moved before your brain could catch up.
your arms lifted and you threw the bucket.
harder than you intended.
it flew across the short distance between you and the owner with a speed that even surprised you, hitting him directly in the chest with a dull, heavy impact.
for one second, nobody moved.
the man's expression changed completely.
the confidence disappeared. the arrogance disappeared.
then his balance gave out.
his feet slipped awkwardly against the pavement, his arms reaching for something that wasn't there, and before anyone could react, his entire body crashed backwards onto the concrete.
the sound echoed through the street.
silence followed immediately.
even your brother stopped talking.
the owner groaned, one hand moving to his back as his face twisted in pain. he tried to sit up, clearly more shocked than anything else.
your voice barely came out.
"i didn't mean—" oh you did.
the apology got stuck somewhere between your thoughts and your mouth.
your brother, however, looked down at the man without the slightest hint of guilt. he crossed his arms over his chest, tilted his head slightly, and shrugged.
as if to say: well. you deserved it.
"you were the one who started it."
your mother, unlike your brother, found absolutely nothing entertaining about what had just happened.
the second you stepped through the front door, she caught you by the ear and began dragging you toward the apartment upstairs before you could even gather enough courage to defend yourself. you stumbled after her, trying to keep up more out of necessity than willingness, while your brother wisely stayed outside. somehow, the boy who had been shouting at a grown man only seconds ago had suddenly discovered the remarkable survival instinct of pretending none of this had anything to do with him. all this years of you raising him, all the ramyeon you brought him with your pocket money. for what? traitor.
"don't 'ow' me. get inside."
the apartment door closed behind you with a loud click. only then did your mother finally stop walking, although she made no effort whatsoever to release your ear. instead, she turned to face you with the kind of expression every child recognized immediately, regardless of age. it was the look that announced a lecture was no longer avoidable.
"breaking the man's store sign, throwing buckets around—" she began, her voice calm in exactly the way that made it dangerous. "why do you have such a temper, y/n?" guess from who.
you stared at her in complete disbelief.
"me? having a temper?" you repeated, almost laughing at the accusation. "he was throwing the bucket at joon-seo. he kept kicking it back toward our restaurant, yelling at everyone like we were the problem. what was i supposed to do? just stand there and applaud?"
you reached for her wrist, trying to loosen her grip, but she simply held on tighter, making you wince.
you sighed dramatically, mostly because arguing while someone was holding your ear hostage felt oddly undignified.
"i'm just saying he started it."
"and you finished it by throwing a bucket at him."
"i wasn't aiming for him."
"oh?" she asked, raising an eyebrow. "were you aiming for the store sign you managed to break instead?"
"that part wasn't intentional."
you let out a long breath through your nose, already knowing you had lost this argument several minutes ago but continuing anyway out of pure principle.
"whether he deserved it or not isn't the point."
"the point," your mother replied, finally letting go of your ear only to fold her arms across her chest, "is that you're a grown woman, not a child getting into fights after school. you cannot solve every disagreement by throwing objects."
"i only threw one object."
you rubbed your sore ear with an exaggerated frown.
"you know, this is a wonderful birthday so far."
"don't try to change the subject."
"i've been working since this morning, dealt with impossible customers all day, almost watched joon-seo start a street fight, and now i'm getting punished in my own home." you sighed. "honestly, i expected cake before the lecture."
"what you should expect," your mother replied without missing a beat, "is your salary getting smaller this month. i'm deducting every cent of the damage from your paycheck."
"don't say 'fine' like that."
"what do you want me to say?"
"i'm sorry the bucket was heavier than i thought."
you couldn't stop yourself.
"and maybe a little aerodynamic."
"okay, okay." you held up both hands in surrender. "that one wasn't my best."
at that exact moment, your father quietly appeared in the doorway carrying the careful expression of a man who had survived decades of marriage by mastering the art of entering arguments as gently as possible.
"honey," he said softly, offering your mother a small smile. "it's her birthday."
your mother's head turned toward him with impressive slowness.
your father immediately nodded.
he looked over at you with an apologetic smile that somehow managed to communicate i tried without actually saying it.
he gave the tiniest shrug imaginable before wisely deciding silence was, in fact, the safest contribution he could make.
closing the door to your room.
the apartment fell quiet for a moment, leaving only the sound of someone washing dishes downstairs and the distant traffic outside. you rubbed your ear again, convinced it would stay red for the next three days, while your mother continued looking at you with the weary expression of someone who couldn't decide whether to scold you more or simply accept that this was the daughter she'd been given.
you, on the other hand, leaned against the wall and looked toward the clock.
what a spectacular birthday.
you had worked overtime, survived what you though was a date, witnessed your brother nearly starting a neighborhood war, thrown a bucket at a seafood restaurant owner, accidentally broken his store sign, been dragged upstairs by your ear and were now lying in bed wondering whether adulthood had always been this humiliating or if today was simply making up for lost time.
outside your room, your parents' voices carried easily through the thin apartment walls.
"i'll make her seaweed soup," your mother said after a long silence.
there was a pause before your father answered, his voice quieter, almost careful, as if he already knew that saying it out loud would only make the guilt sitting between them heavier. "you forgot to cook her seaweed soup today."
another silence followed, longer this time.
because apparently after everything that had happened today, the final thing capable of affecting you was the thought of food. of course it was. apparently your body had decided that emotional damage was not enough and wanted to add hunger into the mix as well.
you couldn't even be properly upset about it because your stomach immediately betrayed you by reminding you that you had barely eaten. after spending the entire day dealing with everyone else's emotions, it seemed almost rude that your own body was now demanding attention. honestly, the timing was impressive.
with an annoyed sigh, you turned away from the noise outside your room and let yourself fall onto your bed. the mattress caught you easily, and for a moment you simply stayed there, staring at the ceiling while the sounds from downstairs slowly faded into the background.
you were outside during your break, standing a little away from the office entrance. for a few minutes, you could just stand there without having to be someone's daughter, someone's friend, someone who always had everything under control, which was apparently a full-time position nobody had bothered to pay you for.
your phone buzzed in your hand, pulling your attention down immediately.
you stared at the words for a moment, letting them sit there on the screen while your brain caught up. then you lowered your head slightly.
your mother was, unfortunately, not completely wrong.
that was the annoying part. admitting.
it would have been much easier if you could simply be angry at them. if you could tell yourself they didn't understand, that they weren't there, that they had no idea how exhausting it had been to keep everything inside for so long while pretending you were perfectly fine. it would have been convenient, almost comforting, to put all the blame somewhere else.
you knew throwing the bucket had been too much. you knew it the second it left your hands.
you just hadn't cared enough in that moment to stop it.
slowly, almost reluctantly, you opened the attachment because ignoring it wouldn't change anything. pretending you hadn't seen it wouldn't erase what happened, and closing your eyes wouldn't magically make the situation disappear, even though a small, completely unrealistic part of you had apparently still hoped life might occasionally work like that.
your body went still as soon as the number appeared.
you didn't react immediately, not because you didn't understand it, but because your brain needed a second to confirm that something like that was actually allowed to exist in your life. the number sat there on the screen with complete confidence, like it belonged there, like it had every right to casually rearrange your entire month without asking for permission first.
you leaned back against the wall outside the building, the cold surface pressing into your shoulders as you stared at it longer than necessary. your thumb hovered near the screen but didn't move, as if touching it again might somehow make the amount smaller. unfortunately, numbers had never been known for their sympathy. your mind immediately started doing what it always did when things became overwhelming, slipping into calculations before your emotions could fully catch up.
"my tiny monthly pay minus money from my savings, work loan and spending money," you muttered under your breath, quieter now, almost absentmindedly, as if saying it out loud was simply part of the process. the numbers came automatically, stacking themselves together in ways that never felt particularly fair. "i barely have anything left."
it wasn't even surprising anymore, which somehow made it worse.
"where am i going to get 800,000 won?" you said, a little louder than intended.
a couple of people passing by the entrance briefly turned their heads, then quickly decided whatever they had heard was not important enough to investigate.
you straightened immediately, clearing your throat and staring forward like the pavement had suddenly become the most interesting thing in existence.
you exhaled through your nose, shoved your phone back into your pocket, and stayed outside for a moment longer than necessary, mostly because going back inside felt like admitting you were supposed to continue the day normally after reading something like that. apparently, adulthood was just receiving life-changing problems during your lunch break and then returning to work like your inbox wasn't waiting for you.
that was when the office door opened behind you.
"you didn't hear this from me, but mr. park got fired," jimin said as he stepped outside quickly, slightly out of breath like he had rushed the last few meters just to deliver the news before anyone else could.
you turned your head slowly.
for a moment, the table didn't react in a coherent way, not because the information wasn't interesting but because it needed time to settle, to shift from rumor into something that actually felt real. sora was the first to fully turn toward him, eyes wide, already leaning in like she had been personally invited into the scandal.
"and how do you even know that?"
jimin didn't even hesitate, as if he had been waiting for that exact question. "maybe i overheard something while walking through the hallways."
"through the hallways," sora repeated slowly, narrowing her eyes. "or while you were conveniently listening at doors again?"
"i prefer to call it environmental awareness."
you let out a quiet breath through your nose, swirling your coffee slightly as you watched them. jimin didn't just spread information, he curated it, shaped it, delivered it with timing that made it impossible to ignore, and somehow everyone still kept giving him more opportunities to do exactly that.
"are you sure you heard that correctly?" you asked, not because you doubted him completely but because with jimin there was always a small possibility that facts had been polished a little before reaching the table.
"he's one of the chairman's men," sora added immediately, lowering her voice slightly as if the title itself carried weight. "how does someone like that even get fired?"
right. people like that didn't simply disappear from the system without something serious behind it. not unless someone above them had decided the risk was no longer worth keeping around.
jimin leaned forward slightly, clearly enjoying the fact that he had everyone's attention, but you didn't let him drag out the suspense any longer than necessary.
he paused just long enough to make it obvious he had planned the timing, then finally leaned in as well, voice dropping slightly.
"apparently he's been accepting bribes from subcontractors."
for a second there was nothing, just a collective stillness as everyone processed it, as if the sentence needed a moment to fully register before anyone could decide how to react. then it broke all at once into overlapping voices, disbelief spilling out in different directions, shock turning into questions that nobody had the answers to yet.
sora covered her mouth slightly, eyes still wide as she tried to make sense of it. when she spoke again, her voice had lowered into something more thoughtful.
"i mean i heard mr. jeon is really strict," she murmured, more to herself than anyone else. "so maybe those rumors weren't just rumors after all."
the table went a little quieter at that, because there was a strange discomfort in realizing that something everyone had treated as distant gossip might actually have been true. all those warnings, those half-finished stories, those vague comments people made whenever his name came up suddenly felt less like exaggerated office talk and more like pieces of something people had been careful not to say too loudly.
your phone started ringing before the conversation could fully move on.
you reached for it, still half listening to the table as you glanced down, expecting nothing specific, until the name on the screen made your entire focus narrow immediately.
you answered, turning slightly away from the table as the noise of the office and the conversation behind you blurred into the background.
"hi, young-seo," you said.
"you're telling me he bought you a ticket for a concert and told you to go with a guy?"
young-seo stared at you from across the desk, her expression slowly shifting from confusion into complete disbelief. a look people gave when they were waiting for you to admit you were joking because surely there was no way the situation could actually be as ridiculous as it sounded. unfortunately for you, there was no punchline coming. no hidden explanation waiting to make everything suddenly make sense. no moment where you could laugh and admit you had exaggerated.
that was really what happened.
and after a few seconds of processing it, young-seo laughed. sharp, slightly hysterical, and completely unhelpful, making the people around the coffee turn to you.
"i'm sorry," she said, although the fact that she was still smiling made the apology questionable at best. "i'm trying really hard not to laugh."
"you're doing a terrible job."
she shook her head, still amused. "but you have to understand how ridiculous this sounds from my perspective. you spent all this time wondering if there was some hidden meaning behind the gift, and then the explanation is that he friendzoned you."
"you're the one who planted that idea in my head," you reminded her. "you were the one who made it sound suspicious."
"because it was suspicious," she argued immediately. "the timing, the effort, the fact that he remembered things about you. i wasn't inventing anything."
she leaned back slightly, thinking about it for a moment. "now i think maybe the mystery isn't that he secretly likes you. maybe the mystery is that he somehow knows you well enough to buy you a gift but not well enough to know you don't like that kind of music."
you gave her a tired look.
"what? i'm being realistic."
"you're supposed to comfort me."
"by reminding you that even your crush is capable of being confusing."
you opened your mouth to argue, but before you could, her phone rang. cutting through the conversation. one second you were listening to young-seo make fun of your situation, and the next your attention had already moved somewhere else entirely.
your eyes dropped to the screen.
the amusement disappeared before you could stop it.
for a moment, neither of you said anything. young-seo's expression softened as she looked from the screen back to your face, not asking what was wrong because the name itself already explained enough. there was something strangely distant about the way you had saved him, almost like you had chosen a label instead of a relationship. not father. not dad. just a description. something factual. something that didn't require feelings attached to it.
"biological father?" you repeated quietly.
she didn't answer. she didn't really need to.
"did you fight with your dad again?"
a small breath left her, almost a laugh but without anything funny behind it.
"when were we ever on good terms?"
her thumb hovered over the screen while the phone continued ringing. it was almost annoying how patient it was, as if it had all the time in the world and she were the one being unreasonable for hesitating.
"why is he calling me at this hour?"
young-seo was drunk. and, objectively speaking, that was never a good combination. not when it involved anything with her father, social expectations, or any situation that required even the smallest amount of self-control. especially not when said father had apparently decided that the perfect solution to her life was a blind date.
"how could he tell me about a blind date on the day of the blind date?" she shouted, her voice cutting through the street.
you sighed, adjusting your bag as if that could somehow make the situation more stable. it didn't. unfortunately, bags had limits, and apparently so did your ability to keep young-seo from turning every minor inconvenience into a public performance.
"i thought blind dates were off the table," you said, glancing at her as she swayed slightly on the pavement. "considering you performed what can only be described as a small exorcism at your last one."
"you're still getting offers?" she shot back immediately, offended on principle rather than out of actual curiosity.
"i suppose the rumors didn't spread as much as i thought," you replied dryly. "damn it."
she didn't even wait for a proper response after that. she simply turned and started walking down the street like she had personally declared war on the entire concept of parental interference.
"i get wrinkles from overtime and now i'm supposed to go on a blind date?" she muttered, louder than necessary, as if the universe itself was responsible for explaining the unfairness of her situation and not her father.
"isn't it more efficient to just go on a blind date with some ridiculously rich guy and call it a day?" you asked, half serious and half amused by how dramatically she was falling apart in real time.
"no," she snapped immediately, stopping mid-step. "i will never enter an arranged marriage. i will marry for love. with someone i meet by accident. by fate."
"you're so spoiled," you said, not unkindly. "talking about fate like it's a delivery service."
that was enough to make her laugh. a real laugh this time, the kind that briefly made you forget she had been complaining about her entire future five seconds earlier. then, without warning, she grabbed your arms and turned you slightly to face her.
"i'm going to need your help again," she said, her eyes locking onto yours with a seriousness that didn't quite match the alcohol in her system.
"i told you," you answered, already shaking your head before she even finished the thought. "i stopped doing this after i got the job."
you tried to step away, but she tightened her grip just enough to make it clear she wasn't finished negotiating.
"this is the last time," she promised, immediately contradicting every known law of friendship and probably several laws of reality. her expression softened into something dangerously convincing, almost innocent if you ignored the chaos that usually followed her innocent expressions.
"can you just act like you're possessed again? just once."
for a moment, the memory surfaced anyway.
young-seo sat across from him in the blind date restaurant, except she wasn't really young-seo at all. it was you sitting there, painfully aware of how ridiculous this entire situation was and yet already far too committed to the performance to escape without making everything worse. which, unfortunately, had become a recurring theme in your friendship with her.
your posture was stiff in a way that didn't quite belong to the character you were supposed to be playing, your hands hovering near your face as if you were still deciding whether you were acting or simply slowly losing your mind in real time. meanwhile, the man across from you kept smiling politely, wearing that fragile, hopeful expression people had when they assumed silence meant shyness instead of someone mentally preparing to ruin an entire evening with fake spiritual possession.
"you must be nervous," he said gently, leaning forward slightly. "you haven't said a word since we sat down."
you didn't answer immediately. you let the silence stretch just long enough to make it uncomfortable, partly because you needed the dramatic timing and partly because you were still trying to remember exactly how young-seo had acted the last time she made you do this. though, realistically, young-seo herself probably wouldn't remember either, considering she had been drunk enough that night to believe your terrible acting deserved an encore.
slowly, you shook your head.
your expression tightened as if something about the all of this was physically bothering you, like the restaurant had suddenly become unbearable for reasons nobody else could detect.
"what's wrong, young-seo?" he asked again, concern beginning to replace his polite smile. "are you okay?"
and unfortunately for everyone involved, you took it seriously.
you exhaled sharply, your shoulders jerking as you lifted both hands toward your face, swiping at the air in front of you as if something invisible was pressing too close, too invasive, too annoying to tolerate. it wasn't subtle. it was dramatic enough that anyone watching would immediately know you were performing something, but just convincing enough to make him hesitate between laughing and wondering if he should call someone.
"no," you said flatly, lowering your voice into the deepest, most serious tone you could manage.
before he could properly process what was happening, you leaned forward and grabbed his wrist as he instinctively reached toward you. you pushed him back into his chair just enough to make him freeze, not enough to hurt him, but enough to completely destroy whatever confidence he had entered the restaurant with.
you immediately released him, staring at your own hand like you had just touched something deeply unpleasant. then, because apparently you had already crossed the line and there was no reason not to continue, you lifted your fingers and sniffed them with exaggerated suspicion.
"let go," you muttered under your breath, still refusing to look directly at him.
but you were already standing.
your movements became slower and more deliberate as you reached into your bag and pulled out a small pouch of salt, along with a few other completely unnecessary items that probably raised more questions than they answered. the moment you started scattering salt across the table, his expression shifted from confusion to genuine concern.
because apparently there was a point where a strange date became a spiritual emergency, and you had somehow managed to find it.
"do you have any idea who you are addressing?" you asked, your voice steady now, almost frighteningly serious. "you are sitting in the presence of the noble host of the spirit of the great general."
"what spirit?" he repeated slowly, like hearing the words out loud might somehow make them logical. "what are you talking about?"
salt continued to fall in uneven circles across the table as you moved around it, your face completely serious. that was probably the part that made the whole thing worse. if you had laughed, if you had broken character even once, it would have been obvious. but you didn't, because apparently once you committed to a terrible idea, you committed fully.
"what have you done," you continued, your voice lowering slightly, "to make something like that attach itself to you?"
he leaned back now, hands hovering helplessly in front of him.
"i haven't done anything," he said quickly. "this is a blind date. what is happening right now?"
you ignored him completely.
instead, you tilted your head slightly, staring past him as if you were seeing something he couldn't. your expression sharpened.
"something vengeful," you whispered, "has followed you."
his face slowly lost color and then you stopped.
your head turned. toward the left corner of the restaurant. where a girl, which he didn't know was the real young-seo, in a white dress stood completely still, long hair covering her face, silent and perfectly positioned like she had been waiting for this exact moment.
the blind date followed your gaze.
his voice came out thin. almost fragile. "am i the only one who can see the ghost?"
for a second, everything went completely silent.
then his chair scraped against the floor as his body went rigid, his eyes widening in absolute disbelief. before he could ask another question, he collapsed backward into the chair with a dull thud, completely unconscious.
against your better judgment, a small laugh escaped you.
"that's what i'm talking about," she said instantly, triumphant, like she had just won an argument nobody had actually agreed to have in the first place. we both laughed a little then,
"can you help me out again? please?" she tried once more, softer this time.
"no," i said, still smiling, still refusing.
"come on, my acting won't get me so far. help me."
she didn't let go of the idea that easily. young-seo never did, especially not when alcohol had already settled comfortably into her system and convinced her that every impossible request was simply a negotiation waiting for the right offer. with her, "no" was rarely the end of a conversation. it was more like the opening statement, the part where she gathered information, adjusted her strategy, and prepared to wear you down until either your patience disappeared or she somehow made the situation sound reasonable.
which, unfortunately, she was surprisingly good at.
you paused not because you were interested. just because refusing to hear the offer would have been unnecessarily dramatic, and apparently one person in this friendship had to maintain some level of professionalism.
"i'm listening," i admitted.
"i'll pay you a generous amount."
"the bag you wanted. it's yours."
"two months of soju. no, three."
"no," you said immediately, flat and practiced, already tired of the conversation before it had even properly restarted.
"no, listen," she argued, pulling you slightly closer like the physical distance between you was the only thing preventing you from understanding. "you're not seeing the bigger picture. this isn't just a blind date. this is a social rescue mission. for me. for my future. for my dignity." way to overreact.
"no," you repeated, slower this time, as if maybe the issue was that she hadn't heard the word clearly enough.
she stared at you for a moment.
"okay, you really only have one response now, don't you?"
you ignored that because acknowledging it would only encourage her.
young-seo sighed, tilting her head back for a second as if she was asking the universe for better arguments. apparently even fate was struggling with her at this point, which was understandable. dealing with young-seo required a certain level of patience that most higher powers probably weren't prepared to provide.
"okay, but think about it properly," she continued, hands moving in wide, uncoordinated gestures. "you come, you sit, you act normal, maybe a little mysterious, maybe a little possessed again if necessary, and then i survive the evening. everyone wins."
by now, the word had almost become a routine between you. less a refusal and more background noise to her ongoing campaign.
there was a pause where she simply stared at you, processing the fact that your vocabulary had apparently reduced itself to one syllable.
"you're not even considering it," she accused, pointing at you like you were personally responsible for the collapse of her entire plan.
"i considered it. i rejected it," you replied calmly.
she stepped closer again, lowering her voice as if making the request quieter would somehow make it more reasonable.
"fine," she said quickly, immediately changing direction like the previous attempts had only been warm-up rounds. "then don't think of it as a blind date. think of it as emotional support. you're just sitting there. existing. silently judging people. you're already good at that."
"no," you said, although it sounded convincing.
she grabbed your sleeve again, gently this time, but with the unmistakable desperation of someone who had already imagined the entire plan and simply needed you to catch up.
"please. just this once. you're my best friend. please. i swear i won't ask again. i swear on my father's questionable life choices."
"no," you repeated, though there was the faintest hesitation underneath it now, buried somewhere between resignation and the unfortunate realization that you had known young-seo long enough to recognize the exact moment she stopped asking and started emotionally blackmailing.
she leaned in, eyes narrowing as she searched for another weakness.
"i'll tell everyone you're my emotional bodyguard."
"i'll say you saved me from a tragic arranged marriage fate."
"no," you interrupted, but this time you were already looking away, which was unfortunate because your refusal was starting to argue with itself.
young-seo noticed, of course.
her expression shifted, the teasing disappearing for just a second as she switched tactics completely. it was almost unfair how quickly she could move from dramatic nonsense to something genuine, like she had been saving the honest part as her final weapon the entire time.
"i really need you," she said quietly.
not the ridiculous offers, not the exaggerated speeches, not the promises that she definitely would not ask again despite both of you knowing she probably would. it was the simple sincerity underneath all of it that made refusing harder than it should have been.
"just be there," she continued. "i can't do this alone."
the street suddenly felt quieter.
you looked at her for a moment, weighing every possible version of how this evening could go wrong, and unfortunately there were many. enough possibilities to make you wonder whether agreeing was actually less exhausting than continuing the argument.
you exhaled through your nose, already tired of a night that hadn't even started yet.
but it didn't sound as convincing as before.
and young-seo, smiled like she had just heard exactly what she needed to hear.
god you were the best friend on earth.
and somehow, against every reasonable instinct you had and whatever part of your brain was still capable of refusing young-seo, you ended up standing in the middle of a luxury store. a luxury store that looked like it had been designed for people who considered normal prices a personal insult. everything about the place was almost suspiciously perfect, from the carefully arranged displays to the employees who somehow managed to look elegant while doing absolutely nothing more than standing there. even the lighting seemed expensive, which felt unnecessary. the mirrors were spotless, the floors were polished enough to make you question whether anyone was actually allowed to walk on them,
the entire store seemed to quietly suggest one thing: spend an unreasonable amount of money on a dress.
normally, you would have walked straight past a place like this. not because the clothes weren't beautiful, because they were, but because you still had an absurdly overpriced hospital bill waiting for you to pay. the more you thought about it, the less sense it made. what exactly had they done during those few days to that man? had they given him some kind of luxury treatment package? you were sure that he willingly stayed in the hospital's presidential suite. because you were paying.
but thankfully, none of that was your problem. at least for now.
young-seo had insisted on paying because apparently this shopping trip was part of the bribe. and honestly, you weren't exactly going to fight her on it when she was the one reaching for her card. there were many situations where you could proudly stand your ground, but rejecting free designer clothes from someone who was determined to buy them for you to wear them on a blind date. hello? yes.
young-seo's cheerful voice echoed through the quiet boutique as she stepped inside, clapping her hands together once with the enthusiasm of someone entering an amusement park instead of an expensive clothing store.
one of the sales associates looked over, politely smiling.
"we're going for a tough-girl concept for marine beauty's new product line," young-seo announced as she walked further inside, already scanning the racks. "and while we're here, we're also finding the outfit you'll wear for your blind date."
"those sound like two completely different objectives."
young-seo didn't even hesitate.
"they're actually the same objective."
somehow, that was her explanation.
and somehow, she seemed satisfied with it.
young-seo had already disappeared between two racks, humming quietly to herself while pulling out dresses like she had been preparing for this moment her entire life.
you followed more cautiously, still resisting the urge to look at the price tags. not because you intended to buy anything yourself, but because you valued your ability to remain calm. there was no reason to emotionally damage yourself by discovering how much a single piece of fabric cost.
the first dress she picked was black with delicate lace sleeves.
young-seo held it against you, stepped back, tilted her head, and studied the result with the seriousness of someone making an important decision.
you looked at the dress. then at her.
"people underestimate lace."
"i think you're overestimating lace."
young-seo looked genuinely unconvinced.
"that's because you're thinking like prey."
"predators understand these things."
you looked around the store for a moment, almost expecting someone else to step in and confirm that this conversation had become unreasonable.
"we're picking an outfit, be serious."
instead, she calmly returned the lace dress and reached for something else.
a few seconds later, she lifted a thick leather belt with the confidence of someone who had just discovered the missing piece of a complicated puzzle.
you took it, held it against yourself in front of the mirror, and, unfortunately, had to admit that it worked better than the lace.
"okay," you turned slightly. "this actually looks tough."
young-seo immediately smiled.
she folded her arms proudly.
"you're already halfway there."
"emotionally unavailable for the blind date."
you sighed. what have i gotten myself into.
the next half hour quickly was stressful. every time you stepped out of the fitting room, young-seo looked at you with the concentration of someone judging a competition,
a dress was rejected because it made you look too soft. another was dismissed because it gave off the impression that you were too easy to approach. in on ahe called you "you look like a fox."
"like a fox?" you repeated, staring at her through the mirror.
young-seo nodded as if she had just pointed out an obvious flaw.
you did a fox like sound. young-seo looked at you. "stop it."
this time, when she returned, you immediately became suspicious.
the outfit in her hands was noticeably smaller than the others.
"there's a concerning amount of missing fabric."
"that's usually what people say right before making questionable choices."
young-seo simply handed it to you. "try it."
she placed a hand over her chest, looking personally offended. "i can't believe you would accuse me of something like that."
there was a brief pause before she finally admitted, "maybe a little."
at least she had enough honesty left to acknowledge it.
you changed anyway, mostly because at this point you wanted to know how far she was willing to take this experiment. the answer became clear the moment you stepped out and immediately crossed your arms against the cold.
young-seo didn't look at you first.
she looked at the outfit.
"you look crazy that's good."
you frowned. "thank you?"
by this point, even the sales associate had probably figured out what was happening. she had watched young-seo reject enough perfectly normal dresses that the process had stopped looking like shopping and started looking like a very specific investigation into how many ways a person could accidentally appear too pleasant.
"try this one," young-seo said.
this time, you didn't argue.
when you stepped out of the fitting room, you immediately knew something was different.
the dress wasn't too much. it didn't look like you were trying too hard to prove a point. it wasn't covered in unnecessary details or designed to make you seem impossible to approach.
and somehow, exactly the right amount of intimidating.
young-seo didn't say anything at first.
you looked at her through the mirror.
she tilted her head slightly, studying the result.
for once, there was no immediate criticism.
no explanation involving predators, emotional risks, or strategic distance.
you looked down at yourself.
you turned slightly in front of the mirror.
you looked at your reflection one more time.
"for sabotaging the date?"
"for making sure that there won't be a second date."
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