Matchmaker Mayhem
Chapter 140: The Ex Reappears

Chapter 140: The Ex Reappears

"If this is a love triangle, I’d like to opt out and just eat cheese instead."

The summit’s Seoul mixer was being held in a rooftop garden that looked like someone had spilled Pinterest over a five-star hotel. There were fairy lights, champagne flutes with gold leaf, and centerpieces so delicate Ava was afraid to breathe near them.

She was dressed to kill.

Not in the "accidental femme fatale" way, but in the intentional, slightly unhinged, I-will-win-this-wedding-arc kind of way.

Black velvet pantsuit. Gold heels. Red lipstick so sharp it could be weaponized.

Ryan, trailing behind her in a fitted midnight suit, had barely looked away from her all evening.

"I feel like I should be concerned," he murmured, taking two glasses of prosecco off a passing tray.

"Why?"

"Because you only wear velvet when you’re plotting."

Ava sipped. "Maybe I’m plotting to ravish you later."

Ryan choked on his drink.

"See?" she said. "Now you’re prepared for anything."

Mei wandered past at that exact moment, wearing an embroidered jacket that might’ve belonged to a K-drama villain and holding a skewer of grilled shrimp. She gave Ava a wink that could only mean trouble and disappeared into the crowd.

That should’ve been the first sign.

---

Ten minutes later, Ava found herself cornered by a cheerful event coordinator waving a clipboard.

"We’ve got a surprise guest joining your table for the VIP toast," the coordinator beamed. "Old connection of Mr. Kim’s."

"Client?" Ava asked, already mentally filing notes.

"Something like that," the woman said, then disappeared before Ava could demand clarification.

Which is when she arrived.

Hae-rin.

Wearing a jade silk wrap dress, gold earrings, and the kind of unbothered grace Ava had only ever seen on ballerinas and assassins. Her hair was swept into a low knot. Her smile was calm, serene.

And she was stupidly, stupidly beautiful.

"Excuse me," Hae-rin said gently, extending a hand. "Are you Ava Lee?"

Ava blinked. "Um. Yes. You are...?"

"Hae-rin."

The name didn’t register—until it did.

Too late.

A half-second after the handshake.

Just as Ryan’s voice came from behind her.

"Hae-rin?"

Ava turned. Ryan had frozen mid-step, glass halfway to his lips.

Ava stared at him. Then back at Hae-rin.

Then back to Ryan.

"Oh," Ava said flatly. "Oh."

Hae-rin smiled. "It’s been a long time, Ryan."

---

The three of them sat.

Ryan looked like he wanted to dig a tunnel under the rooftop garden.

Ava looked like she wanted to interview Hae-rin for an elite assassin program she hadn’t invented yet.

Hae-rin... sipped her wine.

"I didn’t mean to intrude," Hae-rin said. "I was invited as a sponsor. I didn’t realize you were the Ava until I saw the program."

"The Ava," Ava repeated, smiling tightly. "That’s new."

"I’ve seen your work. It’s impressive."

Pause. Sip. Graceful head tilt.

"You’re... very different from the women Ryan used to date."

Ava almost choked on her champagne.

"I’ll take that as a compliment."

"You should," Hae-rin said gently. "He looks... happier."

Ryan made a small strangled sound and buried it in his glass.

Ava raised a brow. "So you two were...?"

"Engaged," Hae-rin said easily.

Ava blinked.

Ryan coughed again.

"We were almost engaged," he clarified quickly. "Families thought it was happening. We never made it official."

Hae-rin smiled. "You always hated making decisions."

Ryan turned to Ava. "Can I die now?"

"No," Ava said, sweetly. "You’re going to live forever. With both of us watching."

---

Later, after polite escape excuses and three deep gulps of fresh air, Ava and Ryan stood alone at the edge of the rooftop, city lights glittering below.

Ryan leaned on the railing. "So. That was... not in the itinerary."

"She’s nice," Ava said. "Which is deeply inconvenient."

Ryan smiled faintly. "She was a good person. Still is. We just... weren’t right."

"You don’t have to explain," Ava said.

He looked at her. Really looked.

"I want to."

A pause.

Then, softly:

"Hae-rin was the kind of person I thought I was supposed to end up with. Same culture, same law school path, same dinner parties. We were... aligned. Just not alive."

Ava didn’t answer right away.

Then she turned to him, resting her chin on his shoulder.

"You ever think about what would’ve happened if you’d married her?"

"Sometimes."

"And?"

"I’d still be watching matchmaking videos alone," he said. "Still wondering what it’s like to be with someone who makes my blood burn."

Ava smirked. "So you’re saying I’m your personal wildfire?"

Ryan kissed her temple. "You’re the blaze I’d walk into again and again."

She was quiet a moment.

Then whispered, "Good. Because I would’ve fought her."

Ryan laughed, long and hard.

---

The café courtyard was quiet in the morning haze, the rush of summit staff still an hour off.

Ava sat with a small cup of yuzu tea and a clipboard full of client notes, hair tied up, heels off, sunglasses hiding tired eyes.

The table beside her was empty... until it wasn’t.

"Mind if I join?"

She looked up.

Hae-rin.

Dressed in ivory linen, minimal makeup, calm as ever. She looked like she belonged on the cover of a minimalist lifestyle magazine titled Grace.

Ava blinked. "Uh—sure."

Hae-rin sat, crossing her legs neatly.

A beat of silence passed.

Then: "I wasn’t lying last night. You really are different."

Ava raised a brow, bracing for... something.

Hae-rin smiled faintly. "Ryan never looked at me like that."

Ava blinked. "Like what?"

"Like you scare him in a good way."

That earned a dry laugh. "He should be scared. I’m a walking disaster with Wi-Fi."

Hae-rin tilted her head. "You challenge him. You’re unpredictable. You make him feel."

Ava didn’t answer.

Hae-rin continued. "With me, everything was structured. Safe. Polite. We made sense on paper."

"But?" Ava asked.

"But he wanted more than sense. He wanted... spark. He just didn’t know it then."

Ava sipped her tea, heart steady. "And you? Did you love him?"

Hae-rin looked away for a long moment.

Then nodded. "I did. Quietly. The way we were taught to. But it was never loud enough to hold him."

Silence.

Then Ava said, "He’s loud with me."

"I know," Hae-rin said. "I heard it the second he said your name."

Ava exhaled.

"Can I ask you something?" she said finally.

"Of course."

"Do you ever regret not fighting for him?"

Hae-rin smiled, soft but sad. "No. Because it would’ve meant convincing him to settle. And I loved him too much for that."

Another beat.

Then she stood.

"For what it’s worth," she said, brushing invisible lint from her sleeve, "you’re exactly what he needs. And maybe what I needed to see too."

She walked away without waiting for a reply.

Ava watched her go, heart thudding with something strange.

Not jealousy.

Not triumph.

Just... understanding.

---

The hotel suite was dim, lit only by the warm glow of bedside lamps and the shimmer of Seoul beyond the glass. Ava sat at the vanity in one of Ryan’s shirts, brushing her hair out slowly. Her body was tired, but her mind still danced with the morning’s conversation.

Ryan was half-sprawled on the bed, reading something on his phone, shirtless and sleepy-eyed.

"Hey," she said suddenly.

He looked up.

"I saw her again."

He didn’t need to ask who.

He set his phone aside. "Where?"

"Courtyard café. She came to sit with me."

A flicker of tension crossed his face, then passed. "What did she say?"

Ava turned in the chair, her legs curling under her.

"That she loved you. Quietly. The way she was taught to."

Ryan exhaled, sitting up a little straighter.

"She said you never looked at her the way you look at me."

His eyes met hers, steady. "She’s right."

"I believe her," Ava said. "But it still made me wonder."

He tensed.

"Not about you," she added quickly. "About how loud I love you."

Ryan blinked.

"I don’t do anything quietly, Ryan. Not matchmaking. Not kissing. Definitely not arguing."

A slow smile curved his lips.

"And I realized..." she continued, voice soft, "she might’ve loved the version of you who didn’t know how to be loud. But I get the one who does."

Ryan crossed the room in two slow steps.

Took her face in his hands.

"I didn’t know what real love sounded like until you," he said. "You’re not too loud. You’re just the first one who made me want to answer back."

She smiled. A little wobbly.

He kissed her—once, gently.

"You make me feel like a man worth falling for," he whispered.

She tugged him down into her arms.

"And you make me feel brave."

Ryan pulled her closer, arms wrapping around her as she sat on the vanity chair, one leg draped across his hip now. The world outside kept shimmering, but in here, everything had gone still.

"I meant it," he murmured. "You’re not too much. You’re just you. And I love every decibel."

Ava gave a small laugh, her forehead pressing into his. "Even when I’m yelling at client spreadsheets?"

"Especially then."

Her fingers curled into the back of his hair. "Even when I snore?"

"You don’t snore," he said, grinning.

"You’re lying to win this kiss."

"I’d lie harder for less."

She kissed him then.

It wasn’t urgent.

It wasn’t a declaration.

It was a question already answered.

Warm. Slow. Familiar.

Like they’d kissed a hundred times and were still discovering new ways to say I’m here. I’m yours. I’m not going anywhere.

Ryan pulled her gently from the chair into his lap, arms locking around her like instinct.

Ava smiled against his lips.

"I really like us," she whispered.

His smile turned soft. "Me too."

Their foreheads touched again.

And beneath the lights of Seoul, wrapped in nothing but cotton shirts and comfort, they kissed once more.

Just because they could.