Changes and Chances

Chapter 13

"Yeji-ssi."

She slowly opened her eyes and saw the familiar man she grew up with. "Jin-young!" she beamed and greeted him lively.

"Wait. Are they here?" She glanced at her watch. "It's only 10AM."

"They need to prepare for a sudden international Christmas Eve dinner."

Jin-young wasn't even done talking and he can already see Yeji's eye roll.

"They instructed me to inform you that we'll be leaving in 2 hours."

Yeji knew better than to argue. This means that her parents won't be home for Christmas Eve until the New Year's, so their best attempt to spend at least a few hours with their only daughter is to drag her to a business dinner and make her sit and socialize with the other sons & daughters who were pretty much in the same situation.

What a tiring routine.

She is very thankful to have lived an abundant life - getting all the toys and clothes she wanted when she was young, attending prestigious schools, eating the best food, not lifting a finger to do house chores. But as she got older, she realized the cost success has brought to their family.

It isn't long until her Mom and Dad decide to marry her off to some young, rich entrepreneur to keep the family wealth intact.

It's dreadful.

When they arrived at the event's place, it's already packed with people. Jin-young left her to sit on the other table as he kept his distance while observing. He knows Yeji doesn't like to be tailed so obviously. She was always thankful for that.

She spotted some familiar faces as she sat down and pulled out her phone to continue watching the series she prepared for the night. No one really talks to each other at this table and everyone usually mind their own business so she was surprised to feel a tap on her shoulder.

When she turned her eyes from her phone, she was not expecting to see a smirking Eunseo beside her.

"Eunseo-ah?"

"I didn't know you'd be here, either. I didn't peg you for someone who is interested in business", the woman answered.

Yeji took the time to process the moment as her eyes appreciated how the suit that she's wearing fits her so well. And it brings out the subtle blue shade of her hair.

"Like what you see?" She continued to tease her as Yeji feigned annoyance and smacked her lightly on the shoulders.

"I am not interested in business. At all. My parents dragged me here."

She learned that Eunseo's parents are the owners of a large recreational chain in Seoul. Hence, their daughter's training in managing one of their most-rented studio buildings in the city. Eunseo was also surprised to learn that Yeji's parents are THE Hwangs - one of the best known surnames in business. It was known that they have a daughter but they maintain minimal responses on discussions related to family.

Yeji is also very private herself. And she's very proud of how she's pulling off the normal-Korean-adult-living-alone-in-an-apartment image.

Eunseo didn't pry much about Yeji's relationship with her parents and she appreciated that a lot.

By the end of the night, the two of them have exchanged phone numbers and agreed to hang out once they're both back in Seoul.

With all the hints about Yeji's avoidance with commitment, and the safety net of knowing Eunseo has a lot to lose, too, they seem to have developed a silent understanding of where they both want this to progress.

When they got to the hotel at 2AM, however, she was surprised to hear her phone blasting the call ringtone.

"Teasing me already?" She smirked and whispered to herself.

Expecting that it was the girl she was talking to earlier that night, she hurriedly got out of the bathtub to fetch her phone.

Her phone almost slipped out of her hand when she saw a familiar name. She suddenly felt her heart beating loudly.

Ryujin

She almost let it get to voicemail but her thumb caught the green button on the last ring.

"Hello?" she said softly.

There was a scratching sound on the other end and she could hear faint voices talking in the background.

"Uhm. Hello?" she tried again, but still no answer.

Her hand flew to her forehead when she realized that it was a pocket dial. All those nerves for nothing. She sighed and put her phone down.

*

Ryujin's eyes grew big when she took a hold of her phone once they were seated.

W-what. What do you mean a 30 second call with Yeji???? I wasn't even-

Her Mom must've seen her reaction and leaned in to see what her daughter was looking at.

"Ryujin-ah. Who is Yeji? You haven't mentioned her before."

She quickly snatched her phone away, gave a fake cough and waved towards the waiter to order.

"You and I will have to talk about that later", her Mom whispered before directing her attention towards her Dad who was telling a story about the new prospective client.

Ryujin struggled to focus on the family dinner that night as she felt the figurative burning sensation of her phone in her pocket.