Chasing Rainbows

5. Charity Dinner

Hearing his name, Bin turned his head towards them. Prof. Kim said, "Ah Mr. Bin, I was just curious whether you're with the same class with Dr. Son in Yonsei, as you two seemed to be at the same age?"

Both of them just stared at Prof. Kim, until Yejin replied, with words barely escaping her lips, "I don't think so, Prof. Kim."

"Okay, I just thought about it. Anyway, what brought you to Houston, Mr. Hyun?"

"I'm here for a merger of one of our ventures with one oil company here in Houston." He answered directly.

"Oh, so would it be long term?"

"It depends, the shortest probably a year."

"That's great, maybe you can continue to join us in our future gatherings."

"Sure, if I have time, why not?" He said with assurance.

With that, he heard the host speak again. "As we continue with our program for tonight, I would like to call on Dr. Son Yejin, who spearheads our organization's newest project, Korean Community Houston Student Aid Foundation, to give us an overview of this project."

He saw Yejin stood and went to the front, and started delivering her presentation. He can hear her voice, but cannot comprehend what she's been saying. 

At that moment, everything seemed to be blurred but her. He could only see her. In front of him. Alive. Talking. Smiling. And it felt he was dreaming.

She's still as beautiful as before, but now every bit a woman. She looked elegant in her modest black knee-length lacy dress. He didn't know how long he'd been staring at her. He just heard the applause from the people around him and she going back to her seat, with Dr. Park shaking her hands.

Dr. Youn then moved closer to him, "It was a good presentation, right. Mr. Hyun?"

"Yes, it was." He just replied.

"This project is really close to her heart. She was also a scholar when she was in Yonsei, and she wanted to help back, now that she has a means to do it." Dr. Youn continued, to which he just nodded. 

Of course, of all people, he didn't have to tell him. He caught her looking at them, but when he looked her way, she turned to Prof. Kim.

The program continued with the various presentations of the organization's other activities. It ended with a couple of entertainment as the host announced that the guests can now enjoy the rest of the night with the drinks being served. Dr. Youn then ushered him to the other tables to connect him with the other guests, also prominent Koreans residing at Houston that time.

He was talking to another businessman when he overheard Dr. Youn's voice. "Uh-oh, he's at it again." 

Curiously, he looked at what he's looking. A certain man was standing close to Yejin and was offering her a drink. He saw her smiling awkwardly, as if trying to say no to the man's offer.

He heard Dr. Youn sigh, "He's Mr. Kwon, also a businessman. He's very fond of Dr. Son."

Bin smirked. It didn't look like fond to him. Looking back, he saw Yejin walk hurriedly towards the other door. At that instant, he excused himself from Dr. Youn. His heart was just beating fast, not pleased about what he saw.

He went to the men's restroom and washed his hands. Bin, what are you doing? He thought as he looked at his face on the mirror. Trying to not think about it, he came out and was surprised when he bumped into a person.