Pygmalion

Sukyung stood up. Feeling determined, she turned toward Jungim and asked,

“Umm, I need to talk to President Jin about my hair, so… Do you know when he’ll be in the office?”

“Ah, President Jin has been very busy lately with some things. Did he tell you he needed to talk to you about your hair?”

Did he? Actually, Sukyung remembered telling him that her brother was supposed to give her a haircut. She did offer him that she wouldn’t mind him giving her a haircut, but Sungwoo became angry at her, telling her that there were plenty of people who were desperate for him to give them a haircut. 

Sukyung couldn’t remember talking about her hair again after that. Of course, she knew Jungim probably didn’t know anything about this. Sukyung nodded and replied,

“I think he said he’ll trim my hair at the end.”

“Really? Hmm. Usually, hair is the first thing that gets done. I guess President Jin told you to keep your hair long, huh?”

Jungim seemed unimpressed as she studied Sukyung. When Sikyung nodded hesitantly, Jungim offered, 

“I’ll ask him about it when I get a chance. Please go upstairs now.”

Jungim dismissed Sukyung, clear she didn’t want to waste any more time with Sukyung. Sukyung gave up trying to get information on Sungwoo. She trudged upstairs to the third floor. Jaewon hadn’t contacted her either since the last time they met. He promised to send her money every month, but he hadn’t called her about it either. Did Jaewon want her to call him to talk about it? That can’t be… Sukyung was disappointed that he didn’t seem interested in her life at all. Shouldn’t he be at last curious to see if she was doing okay?

“Well, I guess he doesn’t care. Besides, he seemed fine not talking to me at all when he was abroad.” 

Sukyung murmured. Feeling like an idiot, she laughed a little. The bus station was pretty far away from Sohyang Place and the weather was chilly. To get her home, she also needed to ride the bus for well over an hour. For some reason, Sukyung felt extra tired today. 

When her cell phone in her pocket began to ring, she hurriedly took it out. She remembered Sungwoo scolding her for not answering her phone quickly. Looking around, worried Sungwoo might be watching to nag her again, she quickly answered her phone.

“Yes? Hello?”

“Get Chief Song on the phone.”

Huh? Sukyung took the phone away from her ear and looked at her phone screen. She realized that it was Sungwoo who called her! Her eyes widened, she got the phone on her ear and asked,

“Mr. Jin?”

“I asked you to get Chief Song. Of course it’s me who’s calling. Who else would call you and ask for Chief Song?”

Sungwoo growled, making her flinch. Sukyung looked around before answering,

“She’s not with me right now.”

“No? Where is she? Where did she go?” 

“I’m not in the shop right now. I finished my lesson today, so I left. Chief Song must still be in the shop.” 

Sungwoo asked angrily,

“Well, I obviously called the shop already! She didn’t answer, which is why I’m calling you! When did you finish?”

“Just now.”

“Did you get on the bus yet?”

“Not yet.”

Sungwoo sighed and ordered, 

“Then go back to the shop and find Chief Song. Tell her to call me.”

Sukyung heard Sungwoo hang up. Did he think she was his employee? Sukyung glared at her phone and grumbled before sighing. She put it in her purse and began walking back to the shop. 

The front door was open. She walked in and looked around, but she couldn’t find Chief Song anywhere. Sukyung looked around the second and third floors, but Jungim was nowhere to be seen. Sukyung asked the ladies who worked in the facial department, but they only shrugged. They said Jungim is probably on the first floor somewhere. 

Sukyung returned to the main floor to look around, but when she didn’t find Jungim anywhere, she called back Sungwoo.

“Umm… I don’t think she’s here.”

“What?” 

“I said I don’t think Chief Song is in the shop.”

Sungwoo didn’t answer. Sukyung couldn’t hear anything from the phone. She wondered if the call got disconnected, but she saw that the call was still ongoing. 

Sukyung asked hesitantly,

“Hello? President Jin?”

“So Chief Song isn’t here?” 

For some reason, Sungwoo sounded strange. He seemed a little slow today as if he was drunk. But it was still early in the evening. It seemed unlikely that Sungwoo would get intoxicated at this hour, especially since she was told he was very busy. 

But who knows? Sukyung didn’t know Sungwoo very well. Perhaps he was an alcoholic. Maybe it was a lie that he was busy at all. Maybe he just wanted to get rid of her. 

Sukyung explained, 

“No, I don’t think so. I can’t find her anywhere.”

She thought that she could hear him swear quietly. He growled again before giving her an order,

“Then get me a document from my office.”

“Pardon?”