D-Guard CEO
They were alumni of one of Seoul’s so-called elite universities. It had been a long time since they’d all gotten together, though not so long that the reunion felt awkward; after all, they’d made a point of meeting from time to time over the years.
“Wow... I heard you got your star this time. We’ve got an executive among us, huh?”
“It’s only a mid-sized company. I’m just a fly’s life away from getting tossed out anytime.”
“Hey, don’t say that. It’s good to see everyone doing well.”
“And you—aren’t you opening your clinic this time? Being a hospital director’s as good as it gets.”
“That, too, is all my in-laws’ money. I can’t exactly say I built it myself.”
They were all busy praising one another.
Back when they’d graduated from that prestigious university, each of them had gone on to make a name for themselves in their own way. Since this wasn’t a gathering of classmates from one department, but friends who’d simply hung out at the same university, their successes came in all shapes and sizes.
The ones who’d done best had become executives at mid-sized companies, opened clinics, or landed so-called respectable professions. In other words, the people society usually called successful had, in fact, become the most successful of all.
Then, while they were exchanging compliments and catching up on each other’s lives, a conversation from one side of the room drew everyone’s attention, and the rest of the table went quiet to listen.
“Oh no... what do I do? I completely forgot. I ran into Seoha this time and invited her to the gathering...”
“...Ha. You did that on purpose, didn’t you?”
“Why would I? What should I do? Should I tell her not to come even now?”
“Does she know?”
“Sorry... she doesn’t.”
“Forget it. Just tell her to come. I’ll leave early.”
“Oh my. Then I’d feel terrible...”
Once Han Seoha’s name came up, everyone naturally perked up.
Who was Han Seoha, after all?
If you asked them to pick the most beautiful woman on campus, she was always one of the first names that came up. If you asked for three names, you chose Seoha first and thought about the rest afterward.
Back when they’d heard she was going to marry Jeongwoo early on, everyone had assumed Lee Jeongwoo must have become a lawyer to land someone like her, and even then they’d still been unable to shake the feeling that Seoha was too good for him.
They’d figured you’d need to be born with a silver spoon in your mouth just to marry her.
Now that they were all older and had families and their own lives, they couldn’t openly show any romantic interest anymore. But hearing that the two of them—already divorced—were going to run into each other made the whole thing impossible not to find interesting.
They were curious about how the once-stunning Seoha had changed, too. From what they’d heard, she’d been doing part-time work after the divorce...
Well, who knew? One thing was certain: compared to Lee Jeongwoo, her situation was far from good.
“If it’s just to catch up after a long time, then what’s the big deal? It’s been ages. There’s nothing wrong with seeing each other, is there?”
“Nothing wrong? What are you talking about? If he doesn’t ask for money, we should count ourselves lucky.”
“Oh? Really?”
“How long is he going to keep demanding child support, anyway...”
“Whoa... Maybe Seoha’s been having a really hard time.”
“If she’s struggling, she should go out and earn some money. How long is she going to keep coming to me with her hand out... Tsk.”
“The Han Seoha we knew...”
“The Han Seoha you knew is what, now? She’s fifty.”
While they were talking about Han Seoha inside, the parking lot had become the scene of a different kind of excitement.
The gathering was held in a rather out-of-the-way place, so unless you were one of the attendees, there was no reason to drive all the way out here.
Then a car approached.
Anyone at this gathering would have recognized it immediately as a Rolls-Royce Phantom.
“That’s insane...”
“Who brought that car...”
“That thing’s worth close to a billion won...”
“Did anyone hear anything?”
“I don’t think so... Is there anyone in our group who’d roll up in something like that?”
The Rolls-Royce Phantom came to a stop right in front of them, as if to make it clear this was its destination.
And then the person who stepped out was—
“...What?”
“...No way. That’s Seoha, isn’t it?”
“You’d recognize her instantly... Does she never age or something?”
“What is all this...”
It was Han Seoha, still carrying the same beauty she’d had in college.
She didn’t look old so much as...
Ripe.
In full bloom.
***
“Have a good time.”
“...I’ll be back soon.”
Han Seoha thanked Doyun, who had personally driven her here, and told him she’d be back soon.
He told her to just think of him as a driver, but how could that be possible? He was her benefactor, after all.
“Enjoy yourself today. You know how hard you worked for this day.”
“...Right. Then I should enjoy myself to the fullest today, if nothing else.”
“Go on.”
“Thank you.”
After saying her thanks to Doyun, she got out of the car.
Familiar faces came into view. The moment they confirmed it was her, their eyes widened. One person was so shocked they actually dropped the cigarette in their hand.
Was it really that surprising?
Then again, that car really was worth close to a billion won.
If an old classmate suddenly showed up in a car like that, she supposed she’d be shocked too.
When Doyun had pulled up in it earlier, she’d been stunned herself.
And now, seeing the expressions on her classmates’ faces, she couldn’t help but think she’d probably made the same face in front of Doyun.
A small laugh slipped out of her.
A moment later, one by one, they seemed to recover from the shock and began sneaking glances at her.
Doyun was right. It was more effective to shock them completely than to merely surprise them a little. They seemed cautious now, as if they didn’t quite know how to react.
The friend who had contacted her came running up first.
“S-Seoha... what is all this?”
“Haha... things have gotten better for me lately.”
“Better...?”
“Maybe ‘a little’ isn’t quite the right word, huh?”
“You little... How is this just a little? I may not know the exact price, but I know that car is crazy expensive.”
“I got lucky.”
She really had. Who could have imagined she’d meet Doyun and end up enjoying this kind of luxury?
“Still, I’m really glad. I feel so relieved. Your ex-husband was talking so much trash inside— I was furious on your behalf.”
“He was badmouthing me?”
“Yes! He was saying that crazy woman who invited you didn’t even know she was inviting you to your ex-husband’s gathering, and that when your ex-husband sees you, he’ll be doing anything but begging... I should’ve gone in there and slapped him across the face.”
“...He’s a terrible man to the very end. Honestly, that almost makes me grateful. It means I can cut all ties with him completely.”
“My God... you still had ties left to cut? Then again, your ex-husband’s the weird one. To lose all attachment to someone as broad-hearted as you...”
There had once been even the faintest trace of thought left in her heart.
It wasn’t that she still had lingering feelings for him.
At the very least, he was the father of their two daughters.
But even that faint trace vanished now.
He was nothing but trash. From the moment he’d made that decision.
And the child support he’d demanded...
It was true that she needed the money. But it wasn’t the kind of money that would kill her if she didn’t have it.
And yet she’d swallowed her pride and asked for it anyway because it wasn’t money for herself. It was money for their two daughters.
That was why she’d asked.
From today on, that man would become a stranger to her.
She went inside.
Maybe because her friend had approached her first, the other classmates slowly began to gather around as well, opening their mouths cautiously.
“Oh my, Seoha... how is it that your beauty hasn’t changed at all? I’d believe you if you said you were in your early thirties, seriously...”
“How much did you have to take care of yourself to stay like this...? You really do look like the greatest beauty from our university...”
“Why are you only showing up now? We’ve missed you so much at every gathering.”
“But... what’s with that car? As far as I know, that’s a Rolls-Royce Phantom...”
“And, uh, more importantly... is that an Hermès Birkin bag? You can’t just buy one of those if you have money...”
“Oh my, it is, isn’t it? That’s an Hermès Birkin. Come to think of it, your accessories and clothes too... Seoha, did you hit the lottery or something?”
The lottery...
Maybe she’d received something even luckier than that.
It was a blessing too great to compare to the lottery. Doyun’s existence was.
As her classmates came closer and didn’t bother hiding their envy, the two people in question began to look flustered.
Her husband and her friend—the crazy woman who had invited her.
Those two chose denial instead of envy.
At the same time, their eyes sharpened.
Both of them swallowed hard, then started toward her.
Her ex-husband spoke first.
“It’s been a while.”
“...”
She hardened her heart.
Her eyes swept up and down over him. He really was nothing special.
“Yeah. Have you been able to get by a little better now that you’ve saved on child support? Though... I guess not much has improved. You should’ve taken care of yourself a bit.”
“...”
Normally, she would never have said something like that.
And as the words left her mouth, what she felt wasn’t relief so much as gratitude—once again, toward Doyun.
If it hadn’t been for Doyun...
Would she have even been able to come to this gathering and say something like that?
At the very least, the classmates’ eyes would have been full of mockery instead of envy.
She was sincerely grateful.
***
The gathering was thick with shock and confusion.
Lee Jeongwoo didn’t take the bait from his ex-wife’s provocation right away, and instead forced himself to respond as calmly as he could.
Of course, inside he wanted to spew every curse he knew.
A twitch ran along the corner of his eye. He was that furious.
“Did you meet some new man or something? You’ve always been good at luring men in, I’ll give you that. Impressive.”
“Impressive? You’re the impressive one, running off with every woman you see without any backbone at all. You’ve got no sense of responsibility as a man, none whatsoever.”
“...Have you said enough?”
“Why? Want me to keep going?”
“...You’ve changed a lot.”
“So have you.”
“...I’m not saying this for no reason. I know you’ve been working part-time lately, and I remember you asking me for child support because things were hard.”
“Oh, so you remember that much? Then you should’ve been paying up. I checked once, you know. Just how trashy you really are. And there it was. Here—take my card.”
“A business card...?”
He took it.
On it was written:
D-Guard CEO Han Seoha
“CEO...?”
His mind went blank.