New York 2023
"Don't be lonely, Ji-pyeong."
It was the last thing she had ever said to him in that damn hospital room. And it had torn at his heart all over again. How could she have said that to him when she was the one leaving this world?
Grandmother had been gone for over three months. And Han Ji-pyeong now sat at a hotel bar at midnight, alone. Her good boy was halfway across the world from where he had felt her hands on his face for the last time. It did not feel far enough.
Ji-pyeong swirled his glass around and around. A solitary piece of ice chased the sides of the glass in a never ending circle.
Just like me.
He had jumped at the opportunity to come to New York to oversee the acquisition and merger of two biotech start ups as soon as Seo Yi-sook proposed the idea. Ji-pyeong suspected that it was a mercy cloaked in a demand anyway. It was not that he did not notice how everyone looked at him as he went through the motions at Sandbox in the weeks after the funeral. It was that he did not know how to talk about it. Dal-mi and In-jae did not know how to broach the subject and so made infuriatingly trivial small talk instead. Even Do-san had been unbearably kind to him after the last board of directors meeting. Grief had even stolen the right to be annoyed at his former rival.
Ji-pyeong knocked back the rest of the bourbon and signaled to the bartender for another.
He appreciated their concern but it sometimes rang hollow. They all had each other. He had no one. Not really. Would they continue to include him in their holiday celebrations now that she was gone? Maybe this year. But what about the next? Even the letters — his hard won consolation— now reminded him more of Grandmother than the wife of another man. Ji-pyeong preferred to remember her warm presence at a table guiding his hand rather than dwell on the indifferent gaze of the woman who chose the man who did not write them.
And so he might as well be a stranger in a strange land than one in his own life in Seoul. Thanks to his investment in Cheongmyeong, Han Ji-pyeong was richer than ever. The newly promoted Vice President of SH Venture Capital was in New York to close a deal that could be worth billions. That he knew how to do alone. Even if Grandmother's entreaty still echoed in his head as cruelly as it did four years ago.
The bartender returned with another glass. Ji-pyeong welcomed the renewed burn down his throat. He would chase a different kind of numbness tonight. The bar was nearly empty despite the hype of the hotel staff about its renowned cocktails. Ji-pyeong studied the warm dark glow of the bottles behind the bar. The oak paneling all around him beckoned to a bygone era. But Ji-pyeong was not interested in dwelling in the past. That was for men who could look back on it fondly.
"Pardon me, sir?"
He took another swig of bourbon.
"Sir?"
He turned around with a start, surprised to be the subject of the entreaty. The waitress was petite and barely twenty five. She seemed to grow increasingly nervous with every second that ticked by on his watch. Ji-pyeong lowered his head to meet her gaze as she chewed at her lip.
"Yes?"
"I was asked to bring you this note by a woman over there."
Ji-pyeong jerked his head back in surprise.
"Excuse me?"
"I'm so sorry but ... well she already took care of your tab and asked me to bring you this."
Ji-pyeong turned his head slowly in the direction of the waitress' gaze. On the other side of the lounge, he saw the back of a woman's head. Her hair cut a sharp, dark swathe just above her shoulders. A bold white jacket drew an elegant line across her shoulders. She was seated across from a man. He was crowned with a mass of dirty blonde hair that curled just under his ears and the buttons on his shirt which lay beneath a black blazer were aggressively under utilized. His expression could only be described as leering. Ji-pyeong's teeth involuntarily set against each other as he watched the man lean towards her. The woman's posture was rigid. Ji-pyeong could tell from where he was sitting that she was not interested. Why couldn't that asshole do the same?
