A/N: Sorry for the wait, but thank you so much for the wonderful reviews! I know things aren't going quite the way you'd imagined them to, but I'm grateful you have faith in this author haha. I will try my best not to disappoint!
To Be Continued...
Ga Eul's parents had left moments ago, and now she was trying to break away herself so that she could check on Yi Jeong. It wasn't like his parents were going to be home. His mother had remained in Australia, and his father, whom she'd been avoiding all night, had been drinking a steady stream of champagne at one of the large round tables near the front of the ballroom. She occasionally glimpsed So Hyun Sub, as he cast a lustful gaze on some young woman or another, through the crowd of people dancing and milling around. Ji Hoo and Woo Bin had each danced one dance with her, and now she sat at an empty table, eating a slice of light, buttery cake and watching the swarm of well-wishers and photographers crowding the very front of the room, where Jun Pyo and Jan Di stood greeting guests. Madame Kang stood off to the side, intermittently speaking to important guests and surveying the room with the eye of a hawk. Occasionally, her gaze would land on Ga Eul's table—right on Ga Eul, it seemed—and Ga Eul would busy herself with shoveling in cake or studying the table's elaborate display of pale pink roses and baby's breath.
Madame Kang had chosen a grand ball room. Ga Eul could at least give her credit for that. Kicking off her shoes, she settled her aching feet onto the cold cream and gold checkered marble floor. Light from several crystal chandeliers made everything shimmer with a golden light: the swirling liquid in the wine glasses balanced on silver platters by sharply dressed waiters, the diamonds accenting nearly every woman's neck and wrists, the orchestral instruments, and Ga Eul's own reflection in her silver spoon as she scooped up the rest of the icing off the gold-rimmed China plate in front of her.
A chocolate fountain had been set up in the back surrounded by eclairs and several different types of fruit. Ga Eul had wanted to sneak out some eclairs for Yi Jeong, but she hadn't found any paper napkins.
Yeah, like there would be paper napkins at an affair like this, Ga Eul thought, mentally slapping herself.
Maybe she should call Yi Jeong again to see if it was all right if she came over. If he didn't answer, she would assume he was asleep and come by in the morning.
Her mind made up, Ga Eul grabbed her purse and her phone and stood, ready to bid her farewells to the happy couple. She pushed her chair into the table and turned perhaps a moment too soon, and a waiter nearly ran into her, the three glasses of red wine left on his platter tilting over before either of them could react and painting the front of her dress the color of blood.
So Yi Jeong and Yi Madeleine: The Art of Romance
The headline rang in Yi Jeong's head for a moment as he struggled to process what was happening.
Not only because his grandfather hadn't mentioned anything about this engagement before but also because the lady in question was not the same woman his father had told him about previously, the one he'd assumed he would be set up with upon returning.
He gripped the arms of his chair as he bit back an angry outburst.
You were expecting this, he reminded himself. Different girl, but you were expecting this.
Play the game.
His fingers rapidly tapped the side of the chair arm again as he forced himself to appear calm. He had to tread carefully here. His grandfather was not one to be trifled with, and neither was Yi Seong Jae. He wondered how long the two of them had been scheming to set this up and for what reason.
"It was initially my daughter's suggestion, you know," Yi Seong Jae continued. "She's been simply dying to meet your grandson."
Her idea? Well, that was new.
And foolish. He'd make Yi Madeleine regret the day she first looked at him.
Yi Jeong was going to kill her.
Ga Eul pulled a few more paper napkins down from the dispenser in the bathroom—at least they had them in there—and continued to soak up as much wine as she could from her dress.
It was a hopeless mess of burgundy splotches, though.
Yi Jeong really was going to kill her.
Ga Eul soaked another towel in water. As she rubbed a particularly dark spot, she heard the door to the bathroom open and the clack of several sets of heels approach the long counter with six wide sinks. Thankfully, Ga Eul had chosen the sink furthest from the entrance, the one next to the wall and the napkin dispenser.
Turning slightly so that the mess on her dress was less visible, Ga Eul continued cleaning it as best she could while the three ladies who had entered busied themselves in front of the mirror with pulling makeup out of their purses and gossiping about guests with names Ga Eul didn't recognize.
"I should have stayed longer in Paris," one of them said with a slight accent that Ga Eul couldn't place. "These parties used to be so classy, but they're inviting just anyone these days."
Her voice sounded familiar, but then again Ga Eul had met so many people tonight.
"I know! Did you see the bride's parents?!" a second girl squealed. "They looked straight out of an ad for a charity organization."
"You didn't know this was a charity benefit?" the third girl chimed in. "You don't mean to tell me you thought this was an actual engagement party, did you?" She giggled.
"Did you see Ara's dress?" the second girl continued without pause. "Looks like somebody threw up confetti and pasted it onto a garbage bag."
"Her diamonds are so fake," the third girl commented. "Hey Madeleine, what do you think?"
Madeleine?
"You babies are still stuffing your dresses with tissues?" the first girl, Madeleine, intoned. Now Ga Eul could place her voice: the girl from the dressing room!
The third girl huffed. "My father won't let me get implants until next year when I turn nineteen."
"Everything about Ara is fake," the second girl continued as though the subject had never changed. "Her eyes. Her nose. Her lips..."
"She's not the biggest fake here," Madeleine stated quietly as Ga Eul gathered up her things and began making her way towards the entrance.
"Ugh! Seeing that slut caused me to lose my focus," the girl in purple complained. "Yah! Why don't you come fix my eyeliner? You messed it up." Holding an eyeliner pencil in one hand, the girl in purple looked accusingly at Ga Eul's reflection as she passed.
Ignoring her, Ga Eul took two more steps towards the entrance and had almost turned the corner when her arm got jerked back.
"Hey! Are you that stupid? She said to come over here." Ga Eul found herself twisted around to face the girl in black, who now stood practically on top of her. "You heard Violet," she snapped.
Ga Eul could see them all clearly now. The girl named Violet—her body particularly thin and bony—wore a dark purple halter-style dress with a slit up one side almost to her hip. Opulent diamond earrings and a matching necklace offset the simplicity of this dress. The girl in black had on an even more extravagant necklace, however, and glittering hairpins to match. She wore a black, off-the-shoulder dress made of some velvet material and was, somewhat surprisingly to Ga Eul, on the heavyset side and probably seemed more overweight because of her proximity to the girl in purple.
The third girl, the tallest one in the group and the one whom Ga Eul recognized as Madeleine, had to be one of the most gorgeous women Ga Eul had ever seen up close. While the girl in purple looked as flat as a wooden board, this girl had the sort of chest and hips any girl would envy, both of which were accentuated by the fitted strapless dress she wore. Silver sequins decorated this floor-length affair from top to bottom and shimmered in the bathroom's overhead lights. Her thick black hair fell around her shoulders in loose curls, complementing the dark makeup she wore. As Madeleine applied a new coat of bright red lipstick, Ga Eul saw her dark brown eyes shift to Ga Eul's reflection. Madeleine stared at Ga Eul like she was calculating something, like beneath her thick eyelashes, she knew immeasurable things Ga Eul would never be privileged to. Then the moment was over, and Madeleine had moved on to blotting her lips with a tissue, seemingly ignorant of the scene unfolding behind her.
"Yah! Did you hear what Rachel said?!" This came from Violet, who had turned to face Ga Eul as well.
Ga Eul focused back in on Rachel and found her voice again.
"Yah!" Ga Eul tugged her arm away. "What did I do to you? I don't know any of you."
"Oh, but we know you. Did So Yi Jeong buy you that dress?" The two girls each grabbed one of her arms and pulled her forward, causing her to lose her balance and tumble onto the hard tile, her purse and phone sliding away from her to the far end of the bathroom.
Ga Eul scrambled to get up but found herself slammed back down onto the floor and rolled over on her back. The two girls pinned her arms and legs on the floor.
"Scream and you're dead," Violet hissed in her ear, her face so close that Ga Eul could smell her shampoo.
"This is Yi Jeong's whore? She looks more like his pet to me," Rachel replied, lifting up Ga Eul's dress. "Look! She's wearing Minnie Mouse underwear!"
"Is that your secret, Chu Ga Eul?"
"Well, it certainly isn't her chest!"
"I..." Ga Eul's throat had gone dry. She couldn't remember words. She tried to scream but nothing came out. Finally, she whispered, "When Yi Jeong Sunbae—"
"Sunbae?!" Violet spat. "Yah, you didn't go to school with him. Only we get to call him 'Sunbae.'"
"Leave her be Violet." Madeleine carefully put away her makeup and took a few steps across the room to where Ga Eul lay, still struggling to get up.
She surveyed Ga Eul with a bored expression.
"I bet you just loved fairy tales when you were little, didn't you?" Madeleine began in a honeyed tone. "I bet Cinderella was your favorite one."
"What do you want with me?" Ga Eul asked, her voice gaining volume again.
"Do you know that dress is the exact same color Cinderella wore to the ball?"
Ga Eul nearly pulled one of her arms free but Violet forced it back down, her nails scratching Ga Eul's wrist.
"Do you know what happened to Cinderella at midnight?" Madeleine pulled a pair of cutting shears out of her purse. "Her dress turned into filthy rags."
"Yah!" Jan Di tugged on the arm of Jun Pyo's suit jacket after they had finally moved over to one of the buffet tables. "Where's Ga Eul? I don't see her anywhere. She was just here a minute ago. Do you think she felt too alone without Yi Jeong Sunbae? I should have told her to stand with us. Did anyone see where she went?"
"She left with her parents," Jun Pyo stated emphatically, loading his plate up with pastries.
"She wouldn't leave without saying goodbye to me," Jan Di argued.
"She knew you were busy. Look, she went that way with her parents a few minutes ago. I saw her myself." Jun Pyo gestured vaguely to the other side of the ballroom and stuffed an éclair into his mouth.
"Yah!" Jan Di slapped Jun Pyo's arm. "You don't know my best friend…Ji Hoo Sunbae, did you see where Ga Eul went?"
The chaebol dressed in his signature white suit turned from viewing the orchestra to focus in on Jan Di's perplexed expression.
"Ga Eul left?" He looked thoughtful for a moment. "She probably went to check on Yi Jeong. She told me earlier she wanted to do that after the party."
Jan Di mouthed an "O" and nodded her head solemnly.
"But still, she should have said something. It's not like I don't have time for her anymore just because I—Yah! Gu Jun Pyo! Get your own pastries!"
Why wasn't anyone else entering the restroom?!
Ga Eul had stopped moving altogether. In fact, she didn't even dare to breathe, seeing as how Madeleine had the point of her scissors digging into Ga Eul's throat.
Methodically, like a seductive move Ga Eul had seen in a movie once—minus the scissors—Madeleine drew a line straight down Ga Eul's torso with the point of her scissors. When she reached the hem of Ga Eul's dress, she stopped and looked straight into Ga Eul's eyes, her expression one of calculated cruelty. Ga Eul tried to reconcile that face with the broken sobs of the woman in the dressing room.
She couldn't.
"No wonder Yi Jeong likes playing dress-up with you," Madeleine said. "You're such a fragile little doll."
She smiled.
"Too bad I always played rough with mine."
Yi Seong Jae had left, beaming with importance and expectancy, and now Yi Jeong inwardly squirmed under his grandfather's studious gaze. The old man had been staring at him for some moments now, surely measuring out his words carefully so that they stung in all the right places.
Finally, Yi Jeong spoke up, "Well…Harabeoji…"
"I warned you before, Yi Jeong. This is my last warning. Don't think I don't know you were taking that girl with you to the Gu reception tonight."
"She's a friend of Gu Jun Pyo's fiancée—"
"Who is of no repute herself. I can't imagine what Madame Kang must be thinking, but I will not concern myself with it. If they want to bury the family name in the sand, so be it. I, on the other hand, am not going to allow it. You end it, Yi Jeong, or I will end you."
"Harabeoji—"
"You might think that my investment in you is too much for me to simply kick you out, but that is where you would be wrong." His grandfather stood up and made his way around his desk. "Take a good look as you exit the museum tonight. You may not always be able to pass through these doors."
"Harabeoji, wait."
Yi Jeong stood up, and the old man stopped and turned around.
"Yes?"
"I was just going to say that I understand. Chu Ga Eul…the girl I was going to take to the party tonight…I meant to break up with her after that, but I thought it would be best to do so after tonight. She had to be there. She's a friend of Geum Jan Di's, as you know. I thought maybe if I did it before she might cause a scene. As it is, I have no reason to be in her company anymore. Now that I am back, I do not intend to disappoint you or the rest of the board, all of those who have put such good faith in me. I hope I have shown in the past few days that I am ready to take on the responsibility. All of the responsibility."
The old man cocked an eyebrow and looked Yi Jeong over.
"We shall see."
He headed for the door once again.
"Don't forget. We have lunch with Madeleine and her father on Monday."
The door thudded behind him with a burgeoning shudder.
Snip. Snip. Snip. Snip.
Broad ribbons of stained fabric fell all around Ga Eul. Her dress had been ripped from her body some minutes ago, exposing her bare chest and her Minnie Mouse underwear, which the girls had wasted no time making more fun of.
She'd lost her will to protest.
Paralyzed, she watched as Madeleine's shears shredded her beautiful dress into Barbie-doll-sized pieces.
"Such a pretty dress," Madeleine said once she had finished, throwing the last bit of fabric in Ga Eul's face. "Shame it had to be wasted on something so cheap."
Ga Eul shook the loose fabric off of her face, hearing a click just as she noticed Madeleine had taken out her phone.
Tucking her phone back inside of her purse, she instructed Violet and Rachel to let Ga Eul go, and they did so, flinging her arms roughly against the tile.
"She's not going anywhere." Madeleine turned her back and headed for the door.
"Have fun making something out of those scraps," Violet called out as she and Rachel followed suit.
"Yi Jeong sure knows how to," Rachel chimed in, and the two of them burst out laughing.
When they were gone, Ga Eul lay there for a long moment, unable to process what had happened. Then, slowly, she stood up and wrapped her arms around herself. Only now did she realize how cold the air conditioning felt against her bare skin.
Even worse, any moment now someone else would be-must be-coming into the restroom. Ga Eul had to get this mess up and hide herself in one of the stalls quickly. Putting her shoes back on—they had left those for some reason, thought they had confiscated her purse and her phone—she shuffled the mound of fabric into the nearest stall, entered it, and locked the door.
Collapsing onto the toilet, she sat there for a while, cold and shaking and numb and touching the tender scratches on her wrist that told her she had not been dreaming.
Eventually, she began to cry silently, so silently that she didn't even realize she had been crying until she reached up and felt the wetness of her tears on her cheeks.
Do you know what happened to Cinderella at midnight?
Her dress turned into filthy rags.