Chapter 73 - Queen Maeve

"Dr. Kim," she was formal. "If we were in a romantic relationship, I would accept your gift. But we do not have a love relationship. It just doesn't make sense for a man to give a mere friend such an expensive gift."

"You should listen yourself right now, Ye Rim." He kept his tone informal, "It's not like I haven't seen it."

"Hahahahaahah! So that's it!" she cried triumphantly, thousands of miles away, and it pissed him off deeply.

' 'That's it' what?' Jun Hyeon thought briefly, but his focus returned to something else. And he couldn't just let her get out after that:

"And before your inflated ego reaches the Everest's peak, Nam Ye Rim dear, know that I have no intention of dating you. It's definitely not the case here."

Kim Jun Hyeon narrowed his eyes in disbelief, 'Who made this siren believe that he wanted to date her? The idea didn't even cross my mind, by the way.'

He had the impression of hearing a huff on the other end of the phone call: "Ah… sure. I don't know where I got that impression from, just today."

"My dearest, be sure, this bag was just a friendly gesture. I will not lie: you are beautiful. Very beautiful. You are interesting too. But you're too ambitious to be someone I'd date."

'There you have it, some of your total honesty poison. Swallow it all, you little golden scaled snake.'

Dr. Kim took the rest of the wine in his glass in one gulp. He could drink a lot more! His mouth was dry as a desert. Jun Hyeon moistened his lips and swept the wine from them, feeling agitated and confused_ as he always did when adrenaline rushed through the bloodstream, crying for fight or flight.

On the other side there was a huge silence. He knew she was still there, breathing heavily, until she said,

"That's good. Because if so, there's only one way for us… oppa Jun Hyeon."

His heart seemed to stop for a moment, a sense of dread suddenly creeping into his chest. He suddenly discovered himself afraid of what she would say. He had really been wrong so far, hoping that she, in her funny and flirtatious way, was just a little flippant and ambitious. Or was she, indeed_ and to his surprise_ a vulgar hunter of opportunities, in the pockets and beds that suited her best?

"A way…?" He asked, cautious and puzzled.

"Yes. I have a tenant I follow in life regarding boyfriends."

'Oh, my head! Every time she makes everything more confusing. What could she want now?'

"Ahhh… A tenet… Do you mind telling?"

Jun Yeon made an ironic tone in his speech, though the mere fact that he told her made him feel much, much more relieved.

"Have you heard of Queen Maeve?"

Jun Hyeon was taken aback, but answered frankly, "No."

"Like every woman who can think for herself, the legends portrayed her as a promiscuous woman; proud, ambitious, petty and mean. But how could we know if it's true?"

"I agree, but I don't understand what this has to do with the subject…" although he could, yes, grasp why she identified with this foreign 'Queen Whatever'.

"And then at least they registered that she said something to a suitor who made me think... That's when I decided that would be how I would choose the one… Yes, the man who would be my life companion. I should not content myself with less than Queen Maeve did."

Jun Hyeon again blinked, as Ye Rim was calm and her tone was one he had not yet heard. She sounded like someone who make a confession. 'What the hell, because just talking to this woman is like a roller coaster? After all, why was she being so open and talking that way?'

"I suppose you expect me to ask her what she said."

"You can find it if you look. To me, I say, 'None of these men I could love: the bitter, the jealous, or the coward.'

"WHAT?!" he glanced around, and there were no signs of shop staff in the room where he was. He looked at the bags on the table, under the red haze of his hatred, "Honestly… You're crazy! Crazy! Are you saying I'm not good enough? Really?!"

"Basically. But do not be offended. There are no suitors in sight. Everyone is one or the other, so far," her light, playful tone didn't calm him down, however.

"So come on, get this over with. What am I of these three?"

"Oppa, don't stress yourself about that. I am an ambitious woman that do not serve for you. We should settle for being imperfect for each other from the beginning. I can introduce you better friends than me, and vice versa… I hope."

He gave a sarcastic laugh. His head was starting to hurt. 'How dare she tell me this naturally: 'You won't do'?'

"You really are a smart-ass. And one of a kind. Your proposal by the end, it's really ... charming. But as you well know, men and women cannot be friends. So maybe after our enlightening conversation, maybe we should recognize that… " naturally he was being sarcastic, but his head seemed to crack, as each side wanted one thing: one side just wanted to accept the refusal as a gentleman and behave with fair play: apologize for the inconvenience and return to his normal life, trying to act civilly. The other side… He wanted so badly to see her swallow all that nonsense and superior tone she entitled herself to out of nowhere.

"Can't men and women be friends ?! What an archaic thought. What period do we live? Where is your sangtu*?"

He ignored the veiled provocation, and said,

"Being honest, I don't believe men and women can be real friends. Unlike you, who seem to collect the so-called 'friends'_ they're just in your head. If you're so innocent…"

"Why, I bet Mr. Go would be shocked to hear that!"

'Why did I imagine she couldn't afford to say something like that…?' he scolded himself. "So you think you…Ye Rim. And I. Jun Hyeon. Could we really be friends?" he didn't believe she really could be so naive. But at the same time… he conceded that it suited her a little.

"I can prove it to you. I have several friends."

"You think so," he laughed blatantly.

"Why are you laughing? You might be surprised!"

This time Jun Hyeon's laughter turned to something more spontaneous. The vendors returned, and he greeted them with a smile, signaling that he would take the chosen bags. All. The staff quickly picked up the bags to pack, and left again.

Jun Hyeon got up from his chair, excited:

"Right!"

"Right what?"

"I take the challenge!"

"Uh ?!" On the other side, the feminine, melodic voice was surprised and confused.

"Let's test your theory. Let's be friends," he doubted it would work, but then several other theories from the smartass Missy Ye Rim would fall apart.

"Friends ?!"