Chapter 24: WRONG TIMING
"NIKOLAI-ssi, did you contact Miss Lim to help me with the renovation of the café?"
"…"
"Nikolai-ssi, are you okay?"
Hmm?
Nikolai only snapped out of his trance when Mona clapped her hands as if trying to get his attention. "Oh, sorry," he said, apologizing as a reflex. "I'm just a little out of it because of… hang-over."
He felt terrible for lying to Mona, but there was some truth in it anyway.
"Glenn and I had a few drinks last night."
That was true.
However, his hang-over was long gone.
"Is that so?" Mona said worriedly. "Wait. Let me get you a hang-over drink."
"Yeobo, I have something to say to you first."
"Alright. What is it?"
"I love you, Mona-ya," Nikolai said, addressing his wife the way he used to address her before they got married. "And I need to apologize to you in advance."
Mona blushed because of his abrupt confession, but it was clear that she was also curious about the latter part of what he had just said. "What are you apologizing for, Nikolai-ssi? Do you regret confessing your feelings for me?"
"Of course not, yeobo."
"Then what?"
"I'm apologizing in advance because I don't think I can ever stop loving you," Nikolai said, his voice almost a whisper now. "Even if we divorced, my feelings for you won't change."
"Divorce?" Mona asked, frowning. "Did you come here because you want to bring up the divorce again?"
Huh?
How did Mona end up with that conclusion?
[I only mentioned the divorce because if she's really dating Gavin Kim, then I have no choice but to let her go. But even so, I want her to know that I'll continue loving her from afar…]
"Is it because of Juliet Hwang?"
Now Nikolai was even more confused.
"I read it in the news," Mona said, avoiding his gaze. "Juliet Hwang divorced her husband for you, Nikolai-ssi."
Nikolai almost choked on his saliva. "Huh? What news?"
"Why don't you check the internet?" his wife said, scoffing at him. "If you do, you'll find your name trending."
Trending?
[But why didn't Glenn say anything about it earlier?]
Nikolai pulled out his phone to search for his name on the internet.
But, much to his surprise, a call from an unknown number suddenly came in. Since he was about to press the screen, he accidentally answered the call.
<"Nikolai-ssi, this is Juliet Hwang.">
Oops.
Since the café was quiet and Mona was standing near him, his wife definitely heard Juliet Hwang's voice.
<"I'm already at your hotel.">
Juliet Hwang was probably talking about the Moonglow Hotel– the luxury hotel owned by the Moonasterion Group, located in the heart of South Korea.
Nikolai knitted his eyebrows. "So what?"
<"Let's have dinner together, Nikolai-ssi. See you.">
Before Nikolai could even respond, Juliet Hwang already hanged up.
[That cunning woman hasn't changed at all…]
But that wasn't the problem.
[Juliet Hwang got divorced earlier in this timeline.]
"It seems like you're busy today, Nikolai-ssi."
Nikolai gulped nervously seeing how Mona looked so upset with him. "It's not like that, yeobo. I didn't even know Juliet Hwang is back in Korea…"
"Does it matter? She's waiting for you at the hotel."
He immediately shook his head. "No, I didn't make plans with Juliet Hwang, yeobo."
"Stop calling me 'yeobo' and leave."
"Huh?"
"You're not the only one who has dinner plans, Nikolai-ssi," Mona said, smiling "sweetly" at him. "I need to prepare for my dinner date tonight, so you may leave now."
"But–"
"I'll politely decline Miss Lim's request to redesign my café," his wife said, cutting him off. "You also don't have to worry about my café, Nikolai-ssi. I can take of myself and my business."
It looked like his wife was really upset.
[I need to explain myself.]
"Yeobo– I mean, Mona-ya, I swear nothing is going on between Juliet Hwang and I. Please don't believe the media easily."
Mona's face turned red, as if she was embarrassed. "You don't have to explain to me, Nikolai-ssi. We're free to meet other people since we're not in a relationship anyway, aren't we?"
Nikolai couldn't refute that, so he could only shut his mouth.
[As long as Mona is happy, who am I to get in her way?]
***
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