Midnight Jazz and Winter's Chill

The last Thursday of September had finally arrived.

It was past one in the morning. The jazz music drifting through the bar had grown so boring that Woo-hee had let her arm drape over the back of the sofa, her head propped against it. She blinked a few times and slipped into sleep. In the shallow doze she seemed to dream…

The phone in her hand vibrated, jolting her awake. A message had come from the man waiting nearby—Seok-ju.

The moment she read the contents, the bar’s door swung open and the chilly dawn air rushed in. Woo-hee lifted her head reflexively like a trained dog.

Who stepped through the door was not the suspected man but the real Woo Je-hyeok. The man she had not seen in a full month looked nothing like the one from the last club visit. His hair, once a messy tangle, now sat neatly in place after being styled with mousse. The buttons on his shirt had been undone to a loose state that night, yet tonight a crisp tie was knotted perfectly, leaving no gaps.

The man exuded sophisticated elegance as he scanned his phone. One hand slipped into his trouser pocket while the other kept thumbing the screen. He walked straight toward where Woo-hee sat.

Woo Je-hyeok finally lifted his eyes. He noticed the woman already seated near the entrance to the inner lounge. His gaze swept over her quickly.

Yes… he had definitely seen her.

There was not the slightest change in Woo Je-hyeok’s expression. He simply withdrew his eyes without hesitation, passed her by without a moment’s pause. The man’s wake whipped through the air as he moved on.

“So damn tired.”

His murmured words trailed off with a chill after he tugged at his tie.

A man who appeared to be with Woo Je-hyeok approached and raised a hand. Woo Je-hyeok patted the man’s shoulder once and headed into the inner room. The door closed behind him, leaving behind a faint sound of his laughter.

Woo-hee waited again. Since there was only one entrance and one exit, she knew he would return here if he left. That was exactly why she had stayed.

Woo Je-hyeok emerged two hours later. He stepped out of the room first, and the heavily intoxicated man called his name while crawling after him like a zombie. The staff at the bar supported the man as he collapsed after only a few steps.

Woo Je-hyeok issued instructions to the staff and turned. Then he began walking toward the area where Woo-hee sat.

Following his steps, she finally sat up. Perhaps she had not noticed him earlier because of the dim lighting in the place.

This time she would see him clearly. The alcohol was only moderately strong, and his desire was at a reasonable level, so this was the perfect timing, she thought.

Woo-hee rose from the table and stood directly in front of him. Woo Je-hyeok’s steps slowed gradually. He tilted his head slightly.

What is this?

Woo-hee kept her fingers curled tightly while receiving that gaze. She had only wanted to leave. Waiting this long for Woo Je-hyeok was exhausting, and the tasks she still had to complete with him felt burdensome. Familiar lethargy crept over her, but she recalled Won-cheol’s words from the final mission of the year. She gripped the goal of revenge that had dragged her life along like a lifeline for over ten years.

Just as she had hoped last time, she wanted the man to act like trash. If he did, Woo-hee was prepared to act like trash as well.

Yet Woo Je-hyeok’s expression remained ambiguous.

Was he smiling or not? Was he displeased or pleased? Was she someone he liked or not? She could not judge any of it.

The silence grew unbearable. Just as she could no longer endure it and opened her lips to step forward one pace,

“Hey…”

She could not finish speaking. The hand she had awkwardly extended lost its balance in mid-air.

Woo Je-hyeok walked straight past her. He let out a faint, mocking laugh as he passed. The sound of the door opening and the new rush of dawn air followed.

She should have chased after him, but she could not. Her pitiful pride held her ankle and would not release her. The shameful humiliation sealed her lips tight. In the end she could only watch the door swing with a dull face.

The woman was inside the painting.

Among the paintings covering the three walls, she stood quietly watching him. So Woo Je-hyeok admired the woman as he would admire a painting.

Even today she wore an indecent outfit. Her wavy hair cascaded long, and her face sparkled with colorful tones. Because of the deep V-neck of her dress, her white collarbones were fully exposed.

The only difference from before was that it was daytime and sunlight bathed her.

The gallery was indoors, yet it had been cleverly arranged with wide windows to catch and use sunlight like lighting. The floating light made the woman’s pale features stand out even more sharply.

The cheap outfit did not suit her noble and mysterious face. Framing the image exactly as it was would have created a strange, fascinating contrast that still left a rather pleasant impression. The woman’s glistening eyes would make an exquisite backdrop for the work, shimmering like the dawn’s rain.

Yet that was only when the woman was the painting.

His mood upon facing the actual woman was far from pleasant. Her stiff nape made him feel as if something absurd had happened.

Woo Je-hyeok split his lips into a faint smile. This was the fourth time he had seen that woman. The first time at Woo Min-ho’s event, the second at the bar in Hannam-dong he visited often, and today at the gallery run by his own mother.

Except for the first, all the other times she wore nearly the same outfit. The places where she stood were also similar. At the bar she always sat near the entrance, and at the gallery she stood in the middle of the lobby by the entrance. The way she greeted him was the same each time.

She stared at him fixedly. Without blinking. As if she had placed something on him to watch.

The woman’s gaze was too shallow and obvious, making it pitiful. She was no longer amusing at all.

“It’s getting a bit tiring.”

The woman tilted her head as if she wanted to know what he had murmured. Her face was still glassy and transparent.

The first time she caught his eye he had felt desire from that glass-like atmosphere, but now even that had disappeared. Remembering how she had trailed after him for so long, even her remaining interest had faded.

It was simply worthless and pathetic.

So he passed her again. As usual, the woman’s eyes clung stubbornly to his back. He heard a few footsteps following him but they soon stopped.

Even when they first met she had stood up with such arrogant pride, yet when she chased him so blatantly she lacked the courage to lower that pride and catch him.

What could she do with such behavior?

A cynical thought brushed his mind. A woman who ignored the subject and acted so expensively was not his taste.

“Welcome, Representative-nim.”

“Mother, is he inside?”

“Yes, he is waiting.”

Before heading to the director’s office after the staff’s guidance, he glanced back at the lobby once more.

The woman’s gaze no longer lingered on him. She approached the wall as if she had truly come to admire the art. That one-sided profile again scraped against his nerves.

Woo-hee had endured her fair share of seduction attempts and had seen many women who used such unoriginal tricks.

At first she would flaunt her pride, but once he discovered her identity or could no longer suppress her anxious heart, she would become frantic and desperate. So this woman’s behavior was nothing special.

Up until now the places where women had waited for him were bars, and now this was the gallery run by his own mother.

Yet she dared to claim such qualifications and such boldness as if this place were hers.

Woo Je-hyeok’s eyes chillingly cooled as he brushed past her. Annoying, shitty stalker. That was all the impression he had.

“Have the unpleasant feelings gone away?”

Woo Je-hyeok looked up as he lifted his teacup. His mother, Baek Seung-shin, approached and sat on the opposite side of him. Then she placed a plate of beautifully cut red meat in front of him.

“You weren’t disappointed because it was construction, were you?”

Woo Je-hyeok continued sipping his tea with an “Ah” sound.

“I heard you had not contacted me for a while because you were angry with me as well as your father?”

“That’s because Mother scolded Father, too.”

“Your father never listens to me. Your grandfather is still complaining about the illness he got for being unable to bend your father’s stubbornness. Eat some vegetables. I had the assistant cook this in a hurry because you were coming.”

“It’s bothersome. Couldn’t you have just brought out some snacks for guests?”

“Fruit is better for the body than cookies. During this transition season you need to eat these seasonal fruits so you don’t catch a cold.”

Woo Je-hyeok laughed low. The words he had tired of hearing from his mother since he was a child.