"No...what the heck is this...?"
JM Group's eldest son, Park Jimin, enjoys a cozy date with a beautiful woman.
JM Group's eldest son, having an affair with another woman, leaving his fiancée behind..?
JM Group's Park Ji-min and YJ Group's Lee Yeo-ju, who are said to be on good terms,
Was it actually a show window?
The moment I saw the articles and search terms with titles that were so unbelievable that I couldn't believe them even after seeing them with my own eyes, my mind went blank and I froze in place, dropping the coffee cup I was holding to the floor.
With a dull thud of a glass breaking, I read each article with trembling hands until the hot coffee splashed on my leg. Perhaps because of the article, I put aside the dozens of text messages that had piled up and called my fiancé, who was number 1 on my speed dial.
No, to be exact, I was going to hang up. But at that very moment...
Ring ring— ring ring—
My phone rang, and it was my mother. I had been shaking with excitement for a moment, but I took a deep breath to calm myself down. Only then was I able to answer the phone, my voice sounding a little more composed.
" mom... "
"I won't make a long story short, come to my private office at the company right now. Jimin called and there will be reporters outside the building, so wear something dark and neat."
My mother literally just blurted out those words and hung up the phone. She must have been furious. Without even bothering to clean up the broken and stained floor, I quickly picked up my pace and began to prepare to leave.
dot
dot
dot
Click, click-! White flashes that went off incessantly,, amidst all that, I glanced at the reporters who occasionally spoke to me with cold expressions, nodded my head, bowed in greeting, and went straight into the building.
The reporters asked me so many questions that my head was spinning, such as, "What happened?", "How do you feel?", "What will happen to your engagement in the future?", "Did you know about this in advance?", etc., but I kept my expression steady and answered firmly, repeatedly saying, "I have nothing to say about that yet."
As I pressed the button for the floor of the CEO's office, where my mother's private office was, and got into the elevator, I quietly looked up at the rising floors and let out a faint sigh. Everything already felt tiring.
And inside the office, where I'd arrived, Park Jimin, who'd arrived earlier, sat on the sofa, his gaze cast down, while my mother gazed down at the reporters lined up below through the glass window. As I entered, my mother, as if she'd been waiting, turned around, took a quick glance at me, and then, with a cold, frozen expression, glared sharply at Park Jimin.
"No need for excuses, Park Jimin. I am very disappointed in this matter."
"I'm sorry. I'll be more careful in the future..."
"It's okay. If we scold the JM Group people here any more, it will only cause further division between us, and there will be no need to talk about the future."
At his mother's words, Park Jimin raised his head, which had been bowed like a sinner, and looked at his mother with a bewildered expression, confused.
"What does that mean..."
"Oh my, so you were thinking of continuing the engagement by blowing the whistle like that and embarrassing our group..? If you published an article like that, you should take responsibility. I'm already done talking to JM Group. The engagement is over. Soon, a new article will come out saying that the engagement was broken off a few days ago and that your dating news came out before the official article."
If that happens...our group and yours will leave a better impression than they have now. Now, that's the end of our conversation with Jimin. Let's go back.
Jimin jumped upright at the mention of a broken engagement and screamed, "That's ridiculous." But his mother didn't even bother to look at him and immediately turned away again. Jimin, his expression wavering, finally walked toward the door. He looked at me, who was standing there with a pitiful expression. But I, still maintaining the same stern expression I'd given the reporters, quietly avoided her gaze.
Truly... it felt like a vain ending to a long-term engagement that had lasted 15 years, and with the sound of the door closing as Park Jimin left, countless memories of him flashed before my eyes like a revolving lantern. Even though my expression was still stiff, I couldn't hold back the tears that were flowing down my face and lightly wiped them away with my hand. This was still the company... it wasn't the time to show my weakness.
My mother looked at me like that, let out a faint sigh, and silently handed me a plane ticket.
"America, for a while now, you've been running wild with speculative articles, so cool your head and come back. Put everything about Park Jimin aside while you're there."
I quietly accepted the ticket, and after a while, I calmed down the tears that were flowing down my face without even realizing it, and then nodded slightly in understanding and left the office.
"My lady..."
It was a good thing I calmed down and came out, even though it took me so long. Park Jimin must have been waiting outside the door for so long because he approached me as soon as I came out and spoke to me. If he'd caught me crying... I couldn't have been more miserable. He was the one who cheated on me with another woman. Thinking this, I glared at Park Jimin with a cold expression.
"Oh, you must be a heroine... me"
"I have nothing more to say to you, and I don't want to. So don't pretend to know me for a while."
As I tried to pass by without answering, Park Jimin grabbed my wrist and continued speaking in an urgent voice. It was fortunate that he had grabbed me from behind as I passed by. Otherwise, I would have seen his trembling voice and my shaking eyes.
I roughly shook off his hand that was holding me back and walked forward with firm steps without looking back.
'Hey heroine~! Haha'
Since childhood, the image of him smiling at me still lingers, even through my tear-clouded gaze. Now... it's a complete farewell.