𝕯 𝖊 𝖘 𝖕 𝖊 𝖗 𝖆 𝖉 𝖔 // vincenzo cassano //

II. twenty

 If she caught on to the look on his face or not, there really was no way for him to tell.

"For you to give to Mr. Cho on behalf of the tenants," she pulled back a step and seamlessly explained, "as a little show of unity after all that's happened. I planned to pay him a visit but I'm afraid I have my hands full right now. Would you please tell him we're wishing him a speedy recovery, Mr. Cassano?"

She didn't even seem to bother with trying to notice him hurry to patch-up his deflated ego. Vincenzo fought back a disbelieving scoff. Didn't know whether he should feel insulted, relieved, or annoyed that Ms. Hong could be so—

No. Certainly not. He was sure Ms. Hong couldn't possibly be this dense... Could she?

"I will," he agreed with a simple promise and chose not to think much else of it.

She took the empty glass with her and bid him a last formal goodbye. Left him sitting at the table by himself as she stepped inside her P.I. office and closed the door behind her.

Still, the heavy quiet that was quick to settle in her place eventually bent his resolve. His head repleted with the thought of her. The realization that when it came to her, he was of so little to no consequence.

It was clear that Hong Eunbyul was no dense woman, but simply one that didn't give two shits about him. Dared he say— the first woman to not give two shits about him. Well, the first after his biological mother of course, that was a given.

He looked down at where he kept his arm propped on the table. The small gift box that was certainly not for him in his hand, almost as if provoking him.

The low chuckle he let out a guise for the incessant hurt buried deep within his heart.

It was ridiculous, he thought. It was absolutely ridiculous that her blatant disregard could actually hurt more than the migraine he woke up with this morning.

"Che cazzo..." Vincenzo exhaled some of that anger burrowed inside, realizing that he needed a better plan. 

'What the fuck.'

Because the one he initially thought of had completely gone to shit now. 

· • -- ٠ ✤ ٠ -- • · 

Eunbyul had a plan.

It was a solid plan, a perfect plan.

She had mapped it all out and made sure it was going accordingly— But the memories someone like Vincenzo Cassano managed to stir again... The feelings he shook awake without him even knowing so...

He could wear those stupid Boorlarlo suits that her father also loved and used to wear. He could smell like her favorite coconut and vanilla gelato, with traces of Milano's blooming spring and the lakeside alpines of Lago di Como. A man of that kind, one endowed with as much power as to have once been favored by her own mother... He could do nothing at all and sit there, looking at her.

And by god, was he just enough like this, to be able to bring back moments of a past which she knew were better if they could be forgotten altogether.

She closed her eyes and her mind fell into a spiral.

Into a mess that took and rattled her heart. Her breath quickened with the stubborn pain in her chest. And the plan that she was so ready to execute just a moment ago...

She didn't know what to make of it now. She didn't know what to make of him. It was clear that Mr. Cassano would not be like any other pet, typical of sitting down easy and poised on her lap.