{KOREAN-ENGLISH}
^
"Breaking News: The second son of the Lee Group has officially announced his engagement to top influencer, An Nari."
Joon So Min's hand trembled as her phone screen flashed the headline.
She stared, frozen.
The words didn't register at first, but the image did. Seo Jun, standing beside An Nari, smiling faintly in a suit. The very image of a man ready for marriage.
Choi Hura turned from the sink.
"So Min..." she said softly, but her daughter was already up, blank-faced.
"I'll be right back," So Min muttered. "I'm going to the convenience store."
Still in her pajamas, she pulled a sweater over her head and slipped out into the cool dusk air.
⸻
She sat at a plastic table outside the store, a can of energy drink beside her and a cup of steaming ramen in her hands. She slurped the noodles absentmindedly, her mind replaying the news again and again.
"You look different."
She froze.
So Min turned slowly to see none other than Lee Yun Jun dropping into the seat beside her.
She nearly choked. "Yun Jun?!"
He gave a polite nod. "Hello."
"What are you doing here?" she asked, surprised to see him in her neighborhood of all places.
"I came to see someone," he said simply.
Then, casually... almost cruelly,he added, "You heard about Seo Jun's engagement?"
She nodded, forcing a small smile as a frown crept up beneath it. "I'm happy for him."
Yun Jun stared at her for a beat. "Why did you break up with him?"
So Min's smile faltered. She looked away.
"Our worlds were too different," she murmured.
Yun Jun let out a sigh and stood up. "I just want my brother to be happy again."
He turned to leave.
"Yun Jun!" a girl's voice called.
So Min looked up, surprised. A young woman approached him casual, cheerful, clearly not from their usual circles.
"Who was that?"she asked Yun Jun glancing at so min's direction.
"A relative," Yun Jun told her, taking her hand. "Let's go."
So Min blinked in quiet shock. Yun Jun? Dating someone like her? She watched them walk away, wondering if she'd ever truly understood any of the Lee brothers.
⸻
Back at Lee Group headquarters, Lee Seo Jun sat across from his aging father, Chairman Lee Han Gyeol.
"The Chinese buyers arrive tomorrow," Seo Jun reported, voice steady, composed.
His father nodded. "Good. And Nari? How is she?"
"She's busy... with the wedding planning," Seo Jun replied after a brief pause.
Han Gyeol eyed his son. "It's a shame things didn't work out with So Min. Have you seen her?"
"Yes."
Seo Jun didn't elaborate. Instead, he shifted topics.
"There's a widow near the Busan construction site. Her husband used to own the land before we acquired it. She's been showing up with their child, crying. The workers are uneasy."
"What do you suggest?" his father asked, already knowing Seo Jun had a solution.
"There's a house near the building owned by a landlord under investigation for illegal activities. It'll likely be vacant soon. I'd like to secure it for the widow."
Han Gyeol looked at his son long and hard. "You've changed, Seo Jun."
Seo Jun remained silent.
"I'm proud of you," the old man said softly. "Do what you believe is right."
Just then, the door burst open.
Lee Min Jun entered without waiting for the bodyguard's permission.
"Just the man I wanted to see," he said, glaring directly at his brother.
"Father," he greeted Chairman Lee respectfully.
"What is this about?" Han Gyeol asked.
"I came to see my soon-to-be-married brother," Min Jun replied with biting sarcasm.
Han Gyeol frowned. "Min Jun, this is not the place—"
"Why are you marrying An Nari?" Min Jun interrupted.
Seo Jun stood, his calm expression unreadable.
"I'm not getting any younger, brother. It's time."
Min Jun's jaw tightened. "And what about Joon So Min?"
Seo Jun's hands curled into fists. "We broke up."
He turned to their father. "I'll see you another time."
Without another word, he left.
⸻
The Han River.
The same place he used to bring So Min when the world felt too heavy. The place where they had once shared laughter, secrets, and kisses under the stars.
Now, he stood there alone.
Until her voice cut through the wind.
"I heard about your wedding."
He turned his head slightly.
"You're not going to congratulate me?" he asked, almost bitterly.
So Min gave a small, polite smile. "Congratulations."
They both looked down at the water, the city lights flickering across the surface.
Seo Jun turned toward her again.
"Why did you cut your hair?"
"To run away," she replied, laughing softly at her own honesty.
He didn't laugh.
Her answer hit deeper than she probably intended.
"Anyone new?" he asked after a long pause.
She hesitated.
"No. I'm not as lucky as you."
Seo Jun let out a long sigh. "I need soju."
⸻
They sat on the plastic chairs outside the same convenience store, a now-drunken Lee Seo Jun slumped forward, and a scowling So Min beside him.
"I told you not to drink this much," she muttered, arms crossed.
"Like you told me we weren't meant to be," he slurred, "and I listened."
She looked at him slowly.
He turned to her with watery eyes.
"Oh, my dear So Min... you broke me."
So Min's chest tightened.
She wasn't prepared to hear those words. Not like this. Not now.
For so long she had thought he had moved on, been okay, even found someone better.
But here he was.
Still broken.
Still hers.
And maybe, just maybe...
She was still his too.