Does 'Blue Velvet' mean anything to you?
A type of cake?
It's Red Velvet you idiot.
Oh. That eighties movie with Isabella Rossellini?
Other than that.
Afraid not.
Hmmm..
What.
Well there goes my hope on a light in a tunnel
Hey, you have news then?
I'm not quite sure yet.
Why don't you drop by my office sometime tomorrow?
Shall I bring Ga Eul with me?
Nah, just your self is fine.
Sure.

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#

'So where did you go in New Zealand? Did you do the lord of the rings tour? You're nuts about those movies, right?'
Jae Kyung waved her beautifully manicured hand to get the attention from the waiters busy attending tables.
The girls decided to have their usual once a month ladies night, a mere couple of days after Ga Eul and Yi Jeong came back from their trip. She warned them though, that Woo Bin was going to join them after his dinner with a client was over.

'Well?' she raised her perfectly shaped eyebrows.
'No, I didn't see much, really….,' Ga Eul mumbled.

'What? But why? I read that New Zealand is really beautiful; I always want to go there.' Jan Di chipped in. She was in a good mood since she didn't have a shift at the hospital for the next two days. She had been busy catching up on her sleep and social life. 'Hey, you're the one who always make a fuss about sightseeing and stuff whenever we go on holiday. Remember when we went to Japan and you made us walk into every single damn shrine over there. You had that little note book you always carried everywhere.'

'Yeah, well…' her reply was interrupted with the arrival of the waiter to their table.

The restaurant was more like a club with live band playing after 10 pm. For now though, the DJ was playing some popular mid tempo songs with occasional slow numbers inserted in. It's by no mean a posh club like one usually frequented by the F4 back in the days. It's a popular meeting place designed more for twenty something college students and young professionals. Jae Kyung dragged them here because apparently her secretary told her that this was quite a hip meeting place for hook up. (You could bag yourself a handsome dude while we're at it, Ga Eul, she winked at her earlier that afternoon)

They ordered their food, nothing fancy, and a round of drink for all of them. It's a typical Friday night buzz and people filling those tables fast.

'Did you go skiing?' Jae Kyung asked Ga Eul, her head swayed to the music.
'No…' she mumbled again.
'What?!' she threw her a disgusted face. 'Seriously? What did you do then? Holed up in your hotel? Gosh.'
'Well, it's not a holiday per se…' Ga Eul said in defense. 'I did finish all my work and sent them to my boss. So there's that…'

Jae Kyung narrowed her eyes and shook her head in mock disgust. 'Shame on you.' She said. 'And what did Yi jeong do? Waiting for you on your side to finish your work? God forbid, but both of you are absolutely boring. That's it. We're not going to ever go on holidays together ever again.'

Ga Eul mumbled some more. The truth was a little less wholesome than that. If anything, she couldn't look at her computer now without blushing at the memory of what he had done to her as she typed in words on her keyboard to the screen.

They ended up not having that ski trip the whole time they were there, seeing as it's really hard to wake up in the morning when you're constantly preoccupied until at least 3AM the night before. Yi Jeong packed his suitcase and moved to her room for the remainder of their stay, telling her there's no way he let her sleep by herself from then on. She told him she's still moving back to her apartment once this business was sorted out. He said to her she'd change her mind by the end of the week. What a cocksure, presumptuous, arrogant man. If only she had not enjoyed what he'd been doing to her that much, she would have told him to move back to his room straight away.

But she's not about to tell Jan Di and Jae Kyung THAT.

They made a thorough work on their dinner and drinks in no time, with Jae Kyung ordered another plate of chicken wings for the table. Sometimes Ga Eul wondered how Jae Kyung stayed slim with the ungodly amount of food she ate. Apparently some people really get all the luck, considering that girl rarely bothered going to the gym for exercise, except to do yoga together with her.

Jae Kyung was busy recounting her trip to New York to meet her dress designer for her upcoming wedding with Woo Bin when a waiter appear with another round of their chosen drinks.

'We didn't…' she trailed, but the waiter said 'It's a compliment from the gentleman in the corner'. He nodded and looked at Ga Eul.
'I….' she started unsure. 'Should we?'
But Jae Kyung already took a swig of her beer.
'Oh,' she said, 'thank you?' The waiter nodded politely and went back to the bar.

They looked at the man sitting in the corner. He looked to be about late thirties or early forties, with broad shoulder and impressive muscles. He lifted his tall mug and nodded his head at Ga Eul when their eyes met. She wasn't sure what to do and smiled at him.

'Eeew, eeew, eeeew,' Jae Kyung commented as she happily drank her beer. ''I was thinking about fixing you up with a nice preppy hipster, Ga Eul, not with Mr. Bodybuilder over there.'

'Oh he's not that bad,' Jan Di chimed in, 'in an action movie villain kind of guy, you know.'
She took another glance at the man who was still looking at Ga Eul.
'Ugh, he's totally looking at you, Ga Eul. Creepy.'
'Yeah, creepy,' Jae Kyung agree. 'My vote is still for a preppy hipster.'

'You guys shut up,' she snapped at them, 'I don't need any fixing up, OK?'
'Why?' Jae Kyung shrugged her shoulder. 'Better than back to crushing on that idiot of yours.'
Ga Eul was about to retort when Jan Di wiggled her eyebrows and giggled.

'Ssshhh, the idiot is here,' she whispered and threw a fake smile as Woo Bin and Yi Jeong made their way to their table, oblivious to the appreciative glances thrown at them by the many female (and a few male) patrons in the room.
'Hi Babe,' Woo Bin made a beeline to Jae Kyung's seat, giving her a peck on her cheek. 'Missed me?'

His greeting was met with silence and kept unanswered as he drew back from her, a bit confused, when his usually affectionate fiancé gave no reply and instead sat there stock still on her chair, her pint glass dangling worryingly in her hand, half forgotten. 'Babe?' he turned his head to her line of sight and stopped in his track just the same. Next to Jae Kyung, Jan Di looked positively slack-jawed.

In front of them, Yi Jeong was kissing Ga Eul from behind, his lips on the side of her neck as one hand moved her hair to another side, the other one rested on her small waist, and she giggled.. giggled(!) as he whispered something in her ear afterward.

They all jumped as Jae Kyung's glass dropped rather loudly on the table, spilled half of the liquid inside.
'What….what…' Jan Di pointed helplessly at the couple still joined at the hips.
'Oh hello girls,' Yi Jeong smiled at them, then dropped a quick innocent peck on Ga Eul's lips.

Jae Kyung narrowed her eyes and glared at Ga Eul who, to her credit, grinned at her with that innocent face of hers.
'You said you did nothing in New Zealand!'
'Well, I said we didn't go exploring,' she answered sheepishly. 'I didn't say we didn't do anything…'
'So this is what you've been doing?'

'Among other things,' Yi Jeong answered without qualm, calmly eating roasted peanuts from the small bowl on the table, even when Ga Eul's sharp elbow hit his side.
'But we were going to hook you up with a preppy hipster…' Jae Kyung lamented mournfully.
Yi Jeong raised his eyebrows at Ga Eul who shrugged her shoulders and rolled her eyes.
'And how about that Mr. Bodybuilder Villain over there…'

'Who?' Woo Bin chimed in.
'The one over there….'
They looked to the corner of the room, following Jae Kyung's gaze, but the table was empty.
'That's strange,' Jae Kyung tilted her head. 'He was there before. He must have gone when you guys came in.'
'Who?' Woo Bin pressed in, his eyebrows furrowed, he looked a bit worry as he glanced quickly at Yi Jeong who shook his head quietly at him.

'Ga Eul's admirer,' Jan Di waved her hand to show the drinks on the table. 'He bought us a round of drinks earlier. He must have fled when you guys started making out.'
'We're not making out!' Ga Eul protested.
'Oh believe me you were,' Jae Kyung smirked at her. 'Weren't they, Jan Di?'
'Uhuh,' Jan Di nodded. 'Do it again, guys, I need to take a picture of you and send it to Jun Pyo. He's in France with Ji Hoo right now. They would think this is a hoax without picture.' She took her phone from her purse. 'Come on.'

Ga Eul glared at her, but Yi Jeong just scooped her into his arms and gave her another kiss.

'Uh this is disgusting,' Jae Kyung made a face. 'Were we ever this disgusting, babe?' she asked Woo Bin who just grinned at her.
'Never,' he answered, before giving her a lingering peck on the side of her neck.
Jan Di groaned. 'I'm going home,' she said. She looked positively ill.

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#

Later that night, while drinking a cup of tea in the living room, Yi Jeong told Ga Eul the bit of information Woo Bin gathered after a week of intense inquiry. Apparently the antique pottery that he tried to get for the museum a year ago, that was sold to unnamed collector, had made its way to a display case at a club called 'Blue Velvet'.

'Of course,' he added, 'that might not mean anything at all.'
So much for moving forward.
'But at least we have another line to explore now.'
She nodded quietly.

'Do you….,' she hesitated, 'do you know the owner or something? You have business deal with him?'
He shook his head and stretched his arms. 'I never even heard about the place until Woo Bin told me.'
'Did you, did you perhaps, did you perhaps date his daughter or something.'
'What?'
'It's a possibility,' she said quietly.

Even without looking at him Ga Eul knew Yi Jeong was intensely looking at her with his serious expression.

'Is that what you think?' his voice was a bit distant.
'I don't know, I don't know what to think anymore.'
'Ga Eul, look at me please.'
She raised her head and looked at him, he had moved from his chair to sit next to her on the couch.

'I have changed,' he said. 'I promised. I am not my father, nor do I want to be like him. You know this, right?'
She watched his earnest expression before giving him a small smile.
'I know,' she said. 'I'm sorry, I really didn't mean it like that.'

He took her hand and kissed the tips of her fingers.
'It's probably a better theory anyway,' he admitted, settling her hand on his knee.

'These are all so confusing.' Ga Eul pulled her hand from where it rested and frowned, 'what else does he say about this Blue Velvet? It's such a cheesy name, isn't it? Like a porn club from the eighties or something.'
Yi Jeong gave her an incredulous look on his face.
She gave a dainty shoulder shrug.

'Well, I mean what does it look like, a flashy in your face at the moment kind of club, or a classy posh you're not my level so don't even think about coming here club, or a trashy micro skirt neon color dance pop club?'
'A rather classy one, I think, from what Woo Bin told me. I don't know, I haven't been there before.'
'Does he know anything about the owner?'
'Not much, really. But we're only starting to dig about him, so maybe we'll get something tomorrow. All we know so far is that the club is a part of a bigger group. Quite successful, apparently. He's not known in the art industry though, so it's a bit surprising that the collection ended up there.'

She sat on the couch, biting her nail, thinking about these new bits of news. Frankly, nothing made any sense to her. The case seemed cookie cutter at first, an art dealer trying to outdo the museum and things then went too far when a life was taken. But now? She wasn't so sure anymore. This had evolved into something entirely personal when they went after her. Woo Bin's theory was that the accident had been some sort of warning for them, because the perpetrator could have easily caused more harm than just drove her off the road if he wanted to. Not a comforting thought at all.

She glanced at Yi jeong. Could someone really plot a revenge on him? But why? He said he didn't think he had done something so bad that it warranted an act of revenge. But people had done things without thinking that resulted in devastation of others. She pulled her feet onto the couch, hugged her knees and closed her eyes. She didn't have much to drink earlier at dinner, but a headache was definitely forming.

'What are you thinking?' Yi jeong's strong fingers stroked her neck and shoulder, loosening the knots and tight muscles.
She turned her head to look at him.
'I don't know, this feels like a story in a detective novel. I am always rubbish in guessing who the villain is,' she smiled a little smile at him. 'I might just go to bed now. Good night,' she stood up and started to walk to her bedroom.

'Are you still not going to move from your room?' Yi Jeong's playfully raised his eyebrows as he crossed his legs and leaned back against the couch, his arms flew behind to support his head on the headrest.
Ga Eul paused in her step and turned her body around, giving him a stubborn and resolute look.

'No,' she said firmly after a few lapsed seconds. 'Good night, Yi Jeong Sunbae,' she made an emphasis on the word Sunbae and turned back and continued waking. A loud chuckle escaped from his lips as she marched to her room.
'Well, don't lock your door then,' he said a little later. 'I'll be there in a minute.'

Incorrigible. She gave him the biggest mental eye roll and purposely turned the key twice. All for show, alas.

#

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