Hotel Grand Ballroom…
A lot of guests have already arrived the moment Min Ho and Shin Hye entered the ballroom. Shin Hye inhaled a deep breath and felt extremely nervous. Her hand was gripping tightly onto her clutch bag. First, this was the first time she attend this kind of event and secondly, she might be seeing Taec Yeon here. It will be very awkward for all of them if they meet again.
Min Ho felt her nervousness and give her hand a soft squeeze. “We will only be here for a while. We can leave after greeting some people.” He assured her.
Shin Hye let out a light smile and nodded.
Min Ho was still holding her hand tightly in his as he walked towards the cocktail area where some important people from the government sector were standing. He greeted them and introduced Shin Hye to them. Although he wasn’t comfortable with their hungry eyes staring at his wife, but he forced himself to stay calm. He regretted to approve his secretary for choosing this sexy dress for Shin Hye.
Just when Min Ho wanted to approach another person, someone called him from behind. It was Mr Chan, the Chinese client that he has been trying so hard to close the business deal with him for months. He pulled Shin Hye with him and walked towards that Chinese man with a smile. But just when they got near to each other, the smile on his face immediately disappeared the moment he saw the familiar woman standing beside Mr Chan. His grip around Shin Hye’s hand tightened the next second.
Shin Hye noticed his changes and followed his gaze. He was looking at the female partner that the man brought. The woman was staring at Min Ho too. She looks familiar. She remembered seeing her before in some fashion magazines. If she is not mistaken, that woman is a model.
“We meet again, Mr Lee.” Mr Chan spoke in Chinese as he shook Min Ho’s hand.
“Hi, Mr Chan.” Min Ho greeted him politely in his not-so-good Chinese.
Mr Chan moved his gaze to Shin Hye and his eyes were scanning her from top to toe. His gaze makes Shin Hye and Min Ho felt uncomfortable at the same time. Min Ho inhaled a sharp breath when his perverted eyes stopped at Shin Hye’s revealing chest. Pulling her slightly to the back to lengthen a safe distance from that old man, he faked a smile on his face.
“Please meet my wife, Park Shin Hye.” He said and turned to Shin Hye. “This is Mr Chan from China. We are currently discussing a project together.”
Shin Hye smiled and nodded her head politely. “Hi, Mr Chan. Nice meeting you.” She greeted him in fluent Chinese. Her fluency in Chinese speaking surprised both Min Ho and Mr Chan.
“Nice meeting you too, Mrs Lee. You speak very good Chinese.” He praised her.
Shin Hye smiled again. “Thank you.”
He then turned to Min Ho and smiled. “Mr Lee is so lucky to find such a beautiful and smart woman.” The man that was standing beside Mr Chan translates what he said in Korean to Min Ho.
“Thank you.” Min Ho smiled.
“Let’s meet my partner, Miss Go Ara. I think all of you should know her. She is a well-known model in Korea.” Mr Chan said as he pulled her slightly to the front.
Min Ho clenched his jaw when Go Ara shook his hand with a meaningful smile. Vengeance was clearly written on her face. She then turned to Shin Hye and let out a fake smile. Her eyes were burning with hatred.
“It’s a pleasure to finally have a chance to meet Mrs Lee.” She said as she stole a sideway glance at Min Ho before a grin spread across her face. “I used to be very close to Mr Lee. I wonder why he didn’t invite me to his wedding.”
Shin Hye raised her brows and felt something strange especially with the way she stared at her husband.
“Oh… please don’t misunderstand. I’m close to him because… I was a spoke person for one of DCM Corporation’s project last time.” Go Ara said with a satisfied smile when she noticed the upset expression on Min Ho’s face.
“I see.” Shin Hye maintained a kind smile without showing any sign of discomfort. “Min Ho oppa and I wanted a simple wedding. So he didn’t invite a lot of people during the banquet. I hope Go Ara-sshi wouldn’t mind that Min Ho oppa didn’t invite you. The wedding was meant for families and close friends.”
The smile on Go Ara’s face faded. And it was Min Ho’s turn to smile. Her pissing game becomes useless in front of his calm and smart wife.
Mr Chan excused themselves when he saw someone and walked away with Go Ara. After they left, Min Ho let out an exaggerated sigh. He could foresee thing will get complicated with Go Ara involved now.
Shin Hye looked up at him and squeezed his hand softly. “Are you okay?” She asked. He looked troubled and she guessed it has something to do with Go Ara.
Min Ho smiled slightly and nodded his head. “I’m fine.” He then looked at her with an admiring gaze. “I didn’t know you could speak Chinese.”
Shin Hye chuckled. “There are a lot of things that you don’t know about me. I’m sure this is just one of those.” She smiled. “I took a Chinese class during my university time. But I just studied for half a year. So I’m not too fluent and just know a little bit.”
Min Ho nodded and before he could respond, he caught a glimpse of Go Ara walking out of the ballroom. She glanced at him and gave him a meaningful smile. He inhaled deeply and turned back to Shin Hye. “Will you be alright to stay here alone for a while? I need to… go out for a moment.”
Shin Hye glanced around the ballroom, hesitated for a second before she smiled. “If it’s only for a moment, I think I’m okay.”
“I’ll be back very fast. Take some drinks at the cocktail area if you are thirsty.” He paused and glanced at the men around them. “Don’t simply talk to stranger, arasso?” He warned her.
Shin Hye smiled and nodded.
He took one lingering look at her before turning around and quickly walked out of the ballroom. And as what he expected, Go Ara was waiting for him outside. She grinned when she saw him and walked to the opposite direction, heading to another washroom that located farer away from the ballroom.
She stopped at the quiet hallway where the washroom was located and turned to Min Ho. “It seems like you are quite distracted by my sudden appearance.”
Min Ho slowly walked over and stopped right in front of her. “What do you want?” He smirked. “I’m sure money isn’t the only reason you get close to that Chinese man.”
Go Ara chuckled. “You are really smart and understand about me. Nothing can ever hide from you.” She paused and the smile on her face faded. “If you didn’t throw me away like garbage, I’m sure we can make a great couple.”
“Don’t waste my time.” Min Ho glared at her dangerously. “Be straightforward and tell me what you want?”
“Okay.” Go Ara smirked. “I know you want the project from China very badly. As what I know, DCM Corporation and OK Corporation are the final two candidates that Mr Chan is considering.” The smirk on her face deepened as she leaned forward, wrapped her arms around his neck and pressed herself tightly against him. “I’m sure you can see how much that old man wanted me. If I’m willing to help you, getting the project will be as easy as snapping your fingers.” She paused and bit her lip seductively. “But at the same time, if you make me unhappy, destroying your chance is as easy as that too. I’m sure that old man will not be pleased if he find out about our past relationship.”
Min Ho’s eyes darkened as his lips pressed into a thin line. “What do you want?” He asked again.
Go Ara smiled widely as she tightened her arms around his neck. “You… I want you.”
On the other hand, Shin Hye was still waiting for Min Ho in the ballroom. As what Min Ho predicted, a lot of men came to approach her when she was alone. She has already run out of excuses to reject talking to them. So to prevent her husband getting upset and accuse her for being flirty again, she decided to go out of the ballroom and hope she could see him outside. But there was no sign of him out there. She then walked to the nearest washroom to check her makeup but saw a ‘maintenance in progress’ sign outside hanging at the door.
“Agasshi, do you want to use the washroom? Something is wrong with one of the toilets inside. It might take a while. If you don’t mind please use the washroom at the other side.” The worker who was standing outside the washroom told her.
Shin Hye smiled and nodded. She walked away, looked up at the signage showing the washroom that the worker told her just now and followed the direction showed on the signage. That place was slightly farer than the one near to the ballroom. As she turned into the quiet hallway, her legs immediately stopped walking and froze in place. Her breath was hitched in her throat when she saw Min Ho standing not far away from her and Go Ara was hugging him tightly. Their lips were just millimetres away from each other and if she didn’t reach there on time, she was very sure they have already kiss.
Min Ho and Go Ara turned to the direction where the footsteps came from and Min Ho quickly pulled away from her when he saw Shin Hye. Her face was pale and an obvious hurt expression was written on her face.
A satisfying smile was curled up on Go Ara’s lips. She crossed her arms across her chest and stared at Shin Hye with a gaze of victory.
“What are you doing here? I asked you to wait for me in the ballroom.” Min Ho asked in a deep voice. Although his face was showing a displease expression but deep inside his heart he was worried that she will misunderstand with what she just saw.
Shin Hye inhaled a deep breath, trying to maintain her composure. “T-The washroom at the other side was… was under maintenance. I… I… I will go back in now.” And without waiting for Min Ho to respond, she quickly turned around and walked away. She needs to leave as fast as she can before they saw the pain in her eyes. Her whole body was trembling and a sharp pang hit her chest hard.