PART 1
Yujin stared in disbelief at the glowing pink notification hovering before her eyes.
[New Mission: Impress Dan-su Han within 24 hours.]
Her first instinct was to throw her coffee at the screen. But then, the image of Dan-su's immaculate suit flashed before her mind. The last thing she needed was to repeat the exact scenario that had brought her here in the first place spilling coffee all over him.
Impress him?
She looked down at her drink, the same overpriced cup she had ordered with the hope of somehow tricking the system. She had barely managed to avoid spilling it all over herself. She hadn't even wanted to come here in the first place, and now she was supposed to impress him, the heir to some unspoken fortune? Charm a billionaire's son?
Her eyes flicked to Dan su, who was dabbing at his suit with a napkin, his expression a perfect mask of irritation.
"I'm sorry about your suit," she blurted out before she could stop herself.
Dan su glanced up, his gaze cold and assessing. "It's fine. Accidents happen."
Yujin swallowed hard. Great. Off to a fantastic start.
How was she supposed to impress someone who probably had more money in his wallet than she had in her bank account?
PART 2
Desperate to lighten the mood, Yujin forced a smile. "You know, they say a coffee stain adds character to a suit."
Dan su arched an unimpressed brow. "Do they?"
She nodded vigorously. "Absolutely. It's very... avant-garde. A bold fashion statement."
Dan su gave her a flat look before returning to his futile attempts at blotting out the stain. "I'll keep that in mind."
Yujin flashed a grin, but inside, she cringed.
Strike one. Billionaires have no sense of humor.
Okay, maybe humor wasn't the way to go. Maybe she needed to appeal to his ego. Rich people liked that, right?
She tried again. "I couldn't help but notice your watch." She leaned in slightly, feigning interest. "It's quite... impressive."
Dan su barely spared it a glance. "It's a limited edition Patek Philippe."
Yujin nodded as if she had any idea what that meant. "Ah, yes. A classic choice."
Dan su said nothing.
Strike two. Complimenting a billionaire on something he probably owns a hundred versions of? Bad move.
PART 3
A suffocating silence settled between them.
Yujin sipped her coffee, mentally scrambling for something anything to say.
"Do you, um, come here often?"
She immediately wanted to die. Had she really just used that line?
Dan su glanced at her. "Occasionally."
He went back to his napkin-dabbing. The silence stretched.
Strike three. She was dying a slow, embarrassing death.
Her brain malfunctioned. She panicked.
"You know," she blurted out, "for someone so wealthy, you're surprisingly... normal."
Dan Su's hands stilled. His eyes narrowed. "Is that so?"
Yujin winced. "I mean, you're just... down-to-earth. Not what I expected."
His gaze sharpened. "And what exactly did you expect?"
She opened and closed her mouth. Abort mission. Abort mission.
"I... I don't know," she stammered. "Just not this."
Strike four. She was practically handing him reasons to hate her.
Grasping at straws, she tried to find common ground.
"I, uh, also had a mishap with coffee recently," she lied. "Spilled it all over my favorite shirt."
Dan Su didn't look impressed. "Is that so?"
"Yeah," she forced a laugh. "It was a disaster."
Silence.
Strike five. She was officially beyond saving.
PART4
Just as Yujin was about to crawl under the table and fade into oblivion, a familiar voice interrupted.
"Yujin! There you are!"
Mina.
Yujin turned to see her best friend approaching with a knowing grin. Oh, no.
Mina slid into the seat beside her, eyes twinkling. "Am I interrupting something?"
"No," Yujin said quickly. "We were just... chatting."
Mina's gaze flickered to Dan Su, then back to Yujin. A slow smirk formed.
"Ohhh," Mina said, extending a hand to him. "I'm Mina, Yujin's friend."
Dan-su shook her hand briefly. "Dan-su."
Mina tilted her head, eyeing him with interest. "Dan-su? That's not a name you hear every day. Are you from around here? I mean… you kind of give off the 'just got back from abroad' vibe."
Dan-su gave a small shrug, the corner of his mouth twitching. "Yeah. Just got back from the States. What gave it away?"
"Just a hunch," Mina said with a grin. "You must be some kind of big shot, huh? Returning home to the family empire or something. What's your last name?"
"Han," he said simply. "Dan-su Han."
Mina blinked. "Han... Han... I feel like I've heard that name before. A friend might've mentioned it."
She squinted at him, then added with a teasing smile, "But your family's not exactly one of those flashy, headline-grabbing types, huh?"
Dan-su gave a calm nod. "We're pretty reserved."
Mina's eyes lit up, her smile widening. "Wow. I like that. Well, it's a pleasure to meet you."
To her horror, Mina effortlessly navigated the conversation, drawing Dan Su in with ease.
"So, Dan Su," Mina said, leaning forward slightly. "What brings you to this café today?"
"A meeting," he replied. "Which was unfortunately cut short."
"Ah," Mina said, eyes twinkling. "Their loss is our gain."
Dan-su's lips quirked slightly. "Figured I'd grab a quick coffee before heading out... but then " he gestured to the faint coffee stain drying on his sleeve, "this happened."
Mina laughed. "Honestly? With a suit like that, people might think the stain's part of the design. It looks almost intentional like very stylish."
He glanced down at it, raising a brow as if trying to see it from her point of view.
Yujin, still pink from earlier embarrassment, muttered dryly, "Maybe that's how dirty jeans were invented."
Dan-su's eyes flicked between them, mildly amused. His lips twitched almost a smile.
He knew they were just trying to ease the tension, to make him feel less annoyed about the stain. But the way they joked about it insisting it was stylish rather than ruined was oddly refreshing. No one in his perfection-obsessed, hypercritical world ever reacted like that. They'd usually suggest a tailor, a replacement, or a lawsuit.
But these girls? They saw a coffee stain and called it fashion?.
And for the first time in a while, he didn't mind it.
PART 6
Then Mina, the traitor, turned to Yujin.
"Have you told Dan Su about your art?"
Yujin's stomach dropped. "Mina!"
"What?" Mina said innocently. "It's impressive."
Dan Su's gaze shifted. "You're an artist?"
Yujin shrugged, feeling painfully exposed. "I dabble."
"She's being modest," Mina interjected. "She had a piece at our University gallery."
Dan su looked mildly intrigued. "Is that so?"
"It was just a small exhibit," Yujin muttered.
"I'd like to see your work sometime," Dan su said.
Yujin blinked. Wait. What?
"Oh," she said, caught off guard. "Uh... sure."
As the day wore on, Dan-su checked his watch.
"I have to go," he said, rising to his feet. His gaze lingered on Mina and Yujin for a brief moment. "It was... interesting meeting you both."
"You too," Yujin mumbled, unsure whether "interesting" meant charming or catastrophic.
Dan-su adjusted his cuff, hesitated as if he had more to say, then simply nodded and strode out the café door.
The moment it shut behind him, Yujin let her head fall onto the table with a groan. "That was awful."
Mina, on the other hand, looked positively thrilled. "Awful? Are you kidding me? That was incredible."
Yujin shot her a look. "Did we have the same conversation?"
Mina ignored her and whipped out her phone. "He totally wants to see your art."
She started typing furiously. "Searching... ugh, there are like ten Dan-su Hans. And some are private. How annoying."
"Maybe he uses a different spelling," Yujin said dryly. "Or maybe you should stop stalking."
"And miss out on my best friend's cute meet story? Never." Mina tilted her phone, zooming in on a blurry profile photo. "Is this him?"
"No!" Yujin grabbed her arm. "Please. About the art he was just being polite."
Mina smirked. "Maybe. But you know what's not polite? Volunteering to check out someone's work when you don't mean it."
Yujin sighed. "Why are you like this?"
Mina tapped her chin thoughtfully. "Because I thrive on chaos. Anyway, you should invite him to your next showcase.
Yujin scoffed. "Oh sure, and while I'm at it, I'll ask him to sponsor my entire career."
Mina grinned. "Now you're thinking like a rich person."
A guy like that? You don't just bump into that kind of person twice though. "Probably the last time we see him." Mina said.
By the time Yujin got back to her tiny apartment, she had successfully convinced herself that the Dan Su disaster was behind her.
She grabbed her laptop, ready for mindless scrolling.
But the second she opened it, a familiar pink notification popped up.
[Mission Status: COMPLETE]
Yujin stared. What.
Apparently, impressing a billionaire didn't require charm. Just persistent humiliation.