Naturally, that day was also going to be a calm one.
The aroma of freshly brewed coffee and warm toast for breakfast was enticing. I picked up my smartphone and opened the internet to search for new news articles that had been posted while I was asleep.
At least, that's what I believed until I read the headline that dominated real-time searches.
"...What is this...?"
JM Group's eldest son Park Jimin, intimate date with beautiful woman
Despite being engaged to be married... is the eldest son of the JM Group cheating?
JM Group's Park Jimin and YJ Group's Lee Yeo Joo, who were rumored to be close, were actually a fake couple?
The moment I saw the shocking headline and search term, I froze in place. The coffee cup fell from my trembling hands and shattered on the floor, the sound of hot liquid splashing onto my feet echoed through the air.
After the dull ding—! sound, I continued reading the article in a daze for a while, ignored the mountain of messages, and called my fiancé, who was number 1 on speed dial.
No, to be precise, I tried to.
At that moment—
Brrrrr—Brrrrr—
My cell phone rang. The word "mother" appeared on the screen. I took a deep breath to calm myself down, having been trembling until just a moment ago, and finally answered the phone in a calm voice.
"mother…"
"I won't talk for long. Come to my private office at the company right now. I've called Jimin. There will be reporters outside, so please wear dark, subdued clothing."
With that one word, my mother hung up the phone.
He must have been angry. Without even having time to clean up the broken cup or the coffee that had spilled on the floor, I hurried off to get ready to go out.
Clink, click, click—
Amid the constant white flashes of light, I kept a cold expression on my face and made my way inside the building, giving slight nods in response to the reporters' questions.
"What does that mean?" "How do you feel now?" "What about the engagement?" "Did you know in advance?"
The reporters bombarded me with questions, but I answered them all with a consistent expression.
"There is nothing I can answer at this time."
I pressed the button to enter the elevator to the CEO's office, where my mother's office was located, and sighed softly as I watched the numbers rise quietly. Everything already seemed like a hassle.
—
There was Park Jimin sitting on the sofa with his head down, and my mother looking out the window at the swarm of reporters. When I entered the room, my mother turned around, took one look at me, and then glared sharply at Jimin.
"No excuses needed. Park Jimin, I'm very disappointed in this incident."
"I'm sorry. I'll be more careful in the future..."
"No, that 'future' is no longer necessary. I've already spoken to the JM Group. The engagement is off. They're going to publish a new article saying that it was broken off a few days ago, and that the news of your love affair came out first."
“In other words… it’s a production to maintain the image of our company and yours at least a little. That’s all for Jimin. Please leave now.”
Jimin stood up and shouted, "That's...impossible!" But my mother didn't look at him at all and just looked out the window again. Jimin looked at me as he headed for the exit, but I avoided his gaze, wearing the same stiff expression I'd shown to the reporters.
It was a very disappointing ending to a long-term engagement that lasted 15 years.
As I heard Jimin leave, memories flashed through my mind like a slideshow. I kept my expression calm and gently wiped away the tears that were spilling out of my eyes.
"The company is still not ready to show weakness."
My mother sighed and silently handed me a plane ticket.
"Go to America. There will be speculation in the news for a while, so it's a good time to cool your head. Forget about Jimin there."
I quietly accepted the ticket and nodded, holding back tears.
—
"Yeoju..."I was so glad that I was able to come out without crying outside. I don't know how long he had been waiting for me, but as soon as I opened the door, Jimin called out to me.
“It’s a misunderstanding, Yeoju… I—”
"I don't have anything to talk to you about anymore, and I don't want to. So leave me alone for a while."
Jimin grabbed my wrist, but I coldly shook him off and turned away, walking away with the sound of his heels clicking.
"Yoju~! Lol"His face, the one that had smiled at me since we were children, appeared vaguely in my blurred vision.
This was really the end.