Shattered Illusions (2)

Kim Chirok had drunk a great deal with Bang Mihee. She called for a designated driver, and the two of them walked arm in arm all the way to where her BMW was parked. The alcohol had left him unsteady on his feet, but he kept her arm linked through his regardless. Bang Mihee made no move to pull away.

He could feel her breath against him. Every instinct told him to pull her into his arms, but hikers still passed along the path, and he couldn't bring himself to do it. The designated driver arrived.

In the back seat of the BMW, Kim Chirok took Bang Mihee's hand. He wanted to kiss her, too, but the driver kept glancing at them in the rearview mirror, and he held back.

Bang Mihee dropped him off in Bongcheon-dong. They waved to each other as they parted.

Climbing the hillside alley behind Bongcheon-dong Central Market, Kim Chirok was in the highest of spirits. All he had to do now was marry Bang Mihee and devote himself to his work. And if, every holiday season, he paid ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠a New Year's bow at the Chairman's home—his future would be a wide, paved road stretching out before him.

Monday arrived. Deputy Song spoke up.

"Kim Chirok, something good ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠going on lately? You look like you're glowing."

"When have I ever looked gloomy? I've always been a cheerful guy."

"Jang Zhuge's been calling you in a lot these days. Don't tell me he's dropping hints about promoting you to Assistant Manager? Watch yourself. That man has a habit of smiling to your face and then stabbing you in the back."

"Haha. Nothing like that."

That afternoon, he was sitting at his computer working through an Excel spreadsheet when his phone rang. It was Oh Ha-young from H Chemical's General Affairs Department. Kim Chirok didn't pick up. The phone kept ringing, and when he still refused to answer, the call finally dropped.

About ten minutes later, a KakaoTalk message arrived. It was from Oh Ha-young. Kim Chirok opened it.

A photograph had come with the message. It showed the two of them walking arm in arm at Anyang Resort—and not merely walking. Kim Chirok was gazing at Bang Mihee's face with a hopelessly smitten expression.

What? When was this even taken?

It defied all explanation. Had Oh Ha-young been at Anyang Resort yesterday? He didn't remember seeing her at all.

This is completely inexplicable.

Anger flared in him, and he typed a reply.

Jessica?

Kim Chirok stared at the screen. What kind of out-of-nowhere nonsense was this? Maybe the heat had gotten to Oh Ha-young's head. The question was so ridiculous he didn't bother answering.

Another message came in.

Kim Chirok let out a short, incredulous laugh. As if Bang Mihee would have worked at a club. She was a PE teacher's daughter—a woman with no reason whatsoever to set foot in a place like that. This, he decided, was nothing more than women sniping at each other out of jealousy.

The whole thing left him thoroughly annoyed. He sent another message.

This time, Oh Ha-young sent a photograph of a high school girl. She wasn't pretty—if anything, she was homely. There was a temper in her face. Her mouth was large, her nose flat.

Who is this? Did Oh Ha-young mean to send this to someone else and hit the wrong chat?

He was still turning that over when another message arrived.

Kim ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Chirok looked at the schoolgirl in the photograph. It did look like Bang Mihee. The shape of the eyes, the contours of the face—they were the same.

Is this really Bang Mihee in high school?

If so, she had truly had her face torn apart and rebuilt. He stared at the picture in a daze. Raise the nose, add double eyelids, and it would be her current face without a doubt. Layer heavy makeup on top of that, and of course she looked like a beauty.

Good god. How is this possible?

It meant that all this time, he had been fooling ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠around with a woman made of plastic surgery. The surgery itself he could almost accept—women had an instinct to make themselves more beautiful. But working at a club? That made no sense. He genuinely could not understand it.

She's a woman who loves luxury brands. Did she take a club job for the money?

But if she had gone to a place like that to play around with men, that was a different problem entirely. There was no law that said a woman couldn't have an affair after marriage.

Kim Chirok sat in dismay, staring up at the ceiling.

His team leader came over.

"Kim Chirok! What happened to that Excel work I asked you for?"

"Ah—yes. It's almost done."

"Hurry it up. I've got a report to give!"

Kim Chirok had been drafting documents in English that day. Strangely, the spelling errors kept piling up.

He decided to observe Bang Mihee a little longer. He had held her hand. He had walked with her arm in arm. Even so, he would give it time—and think it through.

Evening came. Kim Chirok went to his Japanese academy, having made up his mind to throw himself into his studies.

Someone called out to him at the entrance.

"Hyung-nim! It's me. Jang Min-soo."

"Ah, Jang Min-soo!"

It was the employee from the real estate firm.

"Um, I've decided to go to Japan next month. To Kashima City, in Ibaraki Prefecture."

"Ah—so you're going to see Yumiko. The one who works at the outlet mall."

"Hehe. Yumiko's parents want to meet me. She showed them the photos we took together here."

"Things are moving fast. Congratulations."

"Talking to a Japanese woman, my Japanese is definitely getting better. The instructor even praised me recently. Hehe. Of course, I'm nowhere near as good as you, Hyung-nim."

"Not at all. You're doing just fine."

"You should try dating a Japanese woman too, Hyung-nim. I heard the Korea-Japan matchmaking agencies have plenty of highly educated applicants. You'd probably get matched with women from Japan's top universities. Oh, wait—you said you already have a girlfriend, didn't you?"

Kim Chirok regretted it. The last time they'd met, he had told Jang Min-soo he had a girlfriend. That had been back when he was throwing himself at Bang Mihee without a second thought.

He studied Japanese even harder, trying to forget everything.

The instructor was impressed.

"Your Japanese has come an astonishing way in such a short time. You could even go for N1—the highest level of the JLPT."

"It's all thanks to your excellent teaching."

"If you pass the highest JLPT level, you owe me a meal."

"It's a deal."

"You have to keep that promise."

She smiled, a little shyly, as she said it.

This instructor would never have worked a club under a name like Jessica. Her history with men would not be complicated. If she married, Kim Chirok suspected, she would treat her husband well. She simply wasn't his type.

When he got home, Kim Chirok watched a great many Japanese videos on YouTube. Searching with traditional kanji generally brought Japanese channels to the top of the results, and he listened to the pronunciation with real pleasure. Hearing it so often, the sounds began to settle naturally into his ear. He suspected that even if his speaking was still clumsy, he could already understand more than eighty percent of a conversation with a native.

He also signed into Channel J, a Japanese broadcasting service, and watched Japanese dramas. It wasn't that he wanted to date a Japanese woman the way Jang Min-soo from the real estate firm did. He simply liked studying.

The next day, Jang Zhuge called Kim Chirok in.

"Hey. Kim Chirok! Things going well with Bang Mihee these days?"

"I did see her once this past Sunday."

"Seeing her is just the start. You've got to hold her wrist, steal a kiss—that sort of thing."

"We've only been seeing each other a short while, so I've decided to take more time to observe. We haven't been dating long."

"You can't let it steam that long. The rice'll burn on you, man!"

"Even so, I need time to take her measure."

Kim Chirok had resolved to put some distance between himself and the courtship—to watch and wait. The pre-surgery photograph Oh Ha-young had sent, and the claim that Bang Mihee had worked a club under the name Jessica, sat uneasily in his mind.

Director Jang spoke again.

"And what if someone snatches Bang Mihee away while you're sitting there observing? Beautiful women go to the brave."

Bang Mihee, a beauty? This man is only saying that because he hasn't seen her pre-surgery photos.

"It's true I'm not exactly the brave type."

"I asked Bang Mihee what she thought of you."

"Sir? Of me?"

"She said she thinks of you as a decent guy. She's definitely got a favorable impression. So give her a good tug. She'll come along."

"I'm not so sure."

"And Bang Mihee's moving to Banpo this Sunday. Go help her carry boxes."

"She said she's already arranged a moving company, so there's no need."

"You idiot! Go anyway. It'll move her."

"I'll think about it."

"By the way, have you been going to a language academy? Your name's on the list of people getting second-language tuition support."

"Yes. I've been studying a bit of Japanese."

"Why Japanese? You'd have been better off with Vietnamese or Hindi. Those are the markets our group is pushing into right now."

"I started Japanese back when I was at H Chemical, so I'd like to see it through."

"Have you taken the JLPT?"

"I take it next month. I'm aiming for N1."

"N1? You've been hitting the books, I see. All right, get going. And keep working on scoring points with Bang Mihee."

"Yes, sir."

Kim Chirok bowed to the director and left.

The next day, in the afternoon, a call came in from Jeong Chan-young.

"Oh, Chan-young."

"I need to talk for a bit. Is that all right? You're not in the middle of something?"

"It's fine. Go ahead."

"Are you interested in Bang Mihee from the Chairman's office?"

"W-what?"

"There's a rumor going around that you've got a thing for the Chairman's secretary, Bang Mihee. That's why I'm asking."

"Interested is a strong word. We're coworkers, so... we've run into each other a couple of times for work."

"Is that true?"

"It's true. Why?"

"You know I'm seeing Bang Mihee, right?"

"Are you? I had no idea."

"I hate to say this between friends, but from now on, stay away from Bang Mihee."

"W-what did you just say?"

So Bang Mihee had clearly been two-timing him and Jeong Chan-young all along.

Kim Chirok nearly said she was his woman. He nearly said they had already walked arm in arm, that they had already kissed. But after seeing the pre-surgery photograph Oh Ha-young had sent, and after hearing that Bang Mihee had worked a club, his feelings had changed. The heat he had felt for her had cooled considerably.

"I have nothing to do with Bang Mihee. If you like her, congratulations."

"I played golf with Bang Mihee at Yongin Country Club last Saturday. She's actually pretty good."

So that was it. The day before she met me, Bang Mihee played golf with Jeong Chan-young. That's why she showed up late on Sunday. What a sly little thing.

"Must've been fun."

"We can't this week because she's moving, but we're going to the course again next week."

"Oh, yeah?"

"My parents are coming out to play with us next week, too. My father's an excellent golfer. Single-digit handicap."

Kim Chirok had no idea what a single-digit handicap meant. He gathered it was what they called someone who played well. What did surprise him was that Jeong Chan-young's mother played golf.

He had a memory of her from when they were children—a heavyset woman who wore thick makeup and was never without a gold necklace.

"So your mother plays golf too."

"My mom shoots in the low nineties."

Kim Chirok felt a pang of envy. How could he not, watching Jeong Chan-young play golf with his parents? But he didn't envy him for playing with Bang Mihee. In the past, jealousy would have welled up in him. Not anymore.

For a moment, Kim Chirok considered showing Jeong Chan-young the pre-surgery photograph. The impulse rose in him to mention that she had worked a club under the name Jessica. But he couldn't say it. Passing uncertain information along to someone else didn't sit right with him. That was the kind of thing unscrupulous YouTubers did when they spread fake news.

A faintly mocking smile touched Kim Chirok's lips.

"Sure. Take your parents and Bang Mihee out next week. Have a wonderful time."