[That’s good.]

Amusingly, somewhere in her chest ached, but Yeo Eun nodded with a soulless face and even put on a gentle smile.

[How is that good? We haven’t even started image training, yet there’s a blind date. Who knows what kind of trouble he’ll cause.]

Cha Do Ha causing trouble?

Could there be a word less fitting for him?

He’s not the type of person to cause trouble.

He simply does as he pleases.

[If trouble arises from his actions, wouldn’t that make him realize he needs me more easily? I don’t think it’s a bad thing.]

Hearing her words, Cha Hyun burst into laughter.

[Yeo Eun, you don’t know our Do Ha at all. This is why I’m worried about the training.]

Watching Cha Hyun’s giggling face, Yeo Eun gritted her teeth.

She almost blurted out, “If you know him so well, why don’t you do it yourself?”

[Do Ha willingly accepted the blind date?]

Regardless, Cha Hyun continued her story.

[That’s as good as a declaration of war.]

The unpredictable face of Hanju Group, Cha Do Ha.

It was said that his acceptance of the blind date could be a bomb thrown at his grandfather. A bomb that could instantly ruin an MOU worth billions.

[Our goal isn’t the blind date. It’s marriage. To safely reach marriage.]

So, Yeo Eun should make a move. Think of a way to ensure the blind date goes smoothly.

Recalling Cha Hyun’s last words, Yeo Eun sighed involuntarily.

“Is there such a way?”

Sipping her coffee, Yeo Eun muttered to herself and looked towards the CEO’s office, sighing repeatedly.

Beyond the transparent glass wall, Ji Soo is busy talking on the phone with someone.

Judging by her serious expression, it seems to be about the promissory note.

Did she feel Yeo Eun’s gaze? Ji Soo approached the glass wall and lowered the blinds.

[You do what you can do. I’ll do what I can do.]

That was Ji Soo’s answer to Yeo Eun’s question about the promissory note.

What I can do.

“So what is that exactly?”

Cha Do Ha’s blind date is right around the corner, and she doesn’t have a single solution.

Just then, her phone rang.

Glancing at the phone placed in the corner of the desk, Yeo Eun frowned.

Another unknown number.

“Son Gyu Won. Don’t you ever get tired?”

This is already the fifth time this week.

He keeps calling, changing his number each time.

Yeo Eun rejected the call by pressing the red button and stood up from her seat.

Tomorrow is Cha Do Ha’s blind date.

She needs to find a way before things get even more tangled.

A way to make Cha Do Ha behave and attend the blind date quietly.

* * *

Saturday, 5 PM.

VIP Lounge, HJ Hotel on Namsan.

This was Cha Do Ha’s blind date schedule that Yeo Eun had obtained from Cha Hyun.

Sighing softly, Yeo Eun hurriedly entered the HJ Hotel.

Cha Do Ha, who arrived in Korea last night, was staying in the penthouse of this hotel.

He woke up at 11 AM, and his first meal was provided via room service at 1 PM.

The menu consisted only of coffee and fruit.

Then around 2 PM, he had a video conference with the Strategic Planning Department staff, and at 3:10 PM, he had a phone call with Cha Hyun.

It’s now 4 PM.

It’s about time to start preparing for the blind date.

Yeo Eun checked the time once more on her left wrist and got into the elevator.

“This is truly stalker-like behavior.”

To pester a man who clearly doesn’t want this to this extent, isn’t it almost at stalker level?

No matter how much it’s for work, from Cha Do Ha’s perspective, it must be extremely unpleasant.

Ding.

At that moment, with a dull notification sound, the elevator stopped at the P floor.

Cha Do Ha has been living in the hotel penthouse since he came to Korea.

That means he has no intention whatsoever of settling in Korea.

Yet, to force an arranged marriage on such a person, even if it’s Chairman Cha Ji Seop, isn’t it a misjudgment?

“Still, if I have to do it, I have to do it, right?”

Stepping out of the elevator, Yeo Eun took a deep breath and slowly moved forward.

The dark carpet, almost ash-colored, muffled her footsteps.

Perhaps because of that.

An eerie fear pressed coldly on the nape of her neck.

At the end of the hallway, Penthouse 3.

The memory of the man named Cha Do Ha staying there made her tremble.

A faint fear, a cold tension, and yet a heat that strangely warmed her body, lips that were even hotter than that.

Stopping in front of the door, Yeo Eun tried to shake off the last memory of facing Cha Do Ha as she placed her finger on the doorbell.

“It’s okay. He’s not going to eat me, right?”

At least it’s daytime now, with the sun still up.

Squeezing her eyes shut, Yeo Eun pressed the doorbell and stepped back, waiting for the door to open.

Will Cha Do Ha open the door himself?

Or will it be his assistant, Manager Kim Jung Joo?

Or could it be, perhaps, Kim Hae Ri is here?

All sorts of thoughts crossed Yeo Eun’s mind.

She snapped out of her thoughts when she heard someone’s presence beyond the black iron door.

The center of her chest tightened.

The door opened without even asking who it was.

The air beyond the silently opening door made the hair on her entire body stand on end.

Even without needing to confirm who opened the door, just the scent that reached her was enough to give her goosebumps.

Yeo Eun quickly bowed her head.

“I’m sorry. Director Cha Hyun…”

“Come in.”

At the invitation to enter, Yeo Eun cautiously raised her head.

There stood Cha Do Ha.

Dark ash-colored suit pants and a white shirt.

Neatly styled hair and a navy tie in hand.

At least, he didn’t look like someone planning to cause trouble.

It was the typical appearance of a man about to go on a blind date.

For no reason at all, seeing Cha Do Ha like this made something in her chest uncomfortable.

As Yeo Eun just stared, Cha Do Ha’s expressionless face slightly frowned.

“Aren’t you coming in?”

He stepped aside, opening the way for her, and gestured inside once more.

“I’m sorry.”

Yeo Eun quickly stepped inside.

It was just for a moment, but her head felt dizzy.

Because the air from that night in the car, which had intoxicated her, now enveloped her several times stronger.

Her stomach churned.

At that moment, Cha Do Ha brushed past her and went inside.

Swallowing dry saliva, Yeo Eun hurriedly followed him.

To Cha Do Ha, who didn’t ask why she came, Yeo Eun quickly explained her reason for coming.

“I heard you have a blind date today. Director Cha Hyun told me to help with your styling…”

Following Cha Do Ha in a daze, Yeo Eun stopped in her tracks when he entered the bedroom.

Her shoulders instinctively hunched as if facing a forbidden area.

Standing rooted in front of the door, Yeo Eun took in the sight of Cha Do Ha inside the bedroom, choosing a tie with an indifferent face.

The forbidden area, Cha Do Ha, the owner of that intimate space.

Tightly closed lips and a straight, sharp nose bridge, carelessly lowered eyelids and pitch-black shining eyes, even eyebrows filled with contemplation.

It was a sight beautiful enough for anyone to fall for, and charming enough to make anyone’s heart race.

‘It’s not just me being weird.’

Director Cha Hyun said it too. Cha Do Ha can enchant anyone.

The important thing is to keep boundaries, to maintain those boundaries clearly.

At that moment, Cha Do Ha turned his head to look at Yeo Eun.

“What are you doing? Not coming in?”

Yeo Eun flinched, her shoulders stiffening.

Cha Do Ha’s lips curled into a faint smile.

“Why? Afraid I might kiss you?”

At his slightly playful words, Yeo Eun’s shoulders stiffened even more.

Looking at her like that, his smile deepened a bit more.

“I won’t. It’s not after sunset yet.”

As if someone had gripped her heart, the inside of her chest ached tightly.

She had spent the past week feeling like she wasn’t really living, consumed by that one kiss, but to this man, it seemed to have been just a joke.

The way he looked at her, his tone, even his actions.

Just indifferent and nonchalant.

“Don’t tell me you’re planning to waste your fourth chance like this too?”

“No.”

Whether it was a joke or not, what did it matter?

She was the one in a hurry right now.

“I’m coming in.”

Answering quietly, Yeo Eun held her breath as she crossed the boundary between the bedroom and the living room.

At that moment, Cha Do Ha stepped closer to her.

“Why are you just standing there?”

Cha Do Ha tilted his head slightly and spoke.

“Didn’t you come to help with my styling?”

An indifferent expression with an emotionless gaze.

Yeo Eun, looking back at Cha Do Ha, swallowed dry saliva and nodded.

“Yes, since I also work as a style manager, the Director specifically…”

She couldn’t finish her sentence.

Because Cha Do Ha grabbed her wrist.

Startled, Yeo Eun tried to pull her arm away, but there was no need as Cha Do Ha’s hand quickly left her.

“Then show me.”

Leading her towards his closet, Cha Do Ha stepped back, leaving her alone.

“Let’s see your skills.”

That was all.

Just speaking in a languid voice, without any movement, just standing behind her and watching.

Her back, feeling his gaze, trembled, and her wrist where he had touched felt hot.

Her mouth dried up, causing thirst.

“The tie…”

Yeo Eun’s fingertips trembled slightly.

Pausing her words, she clenched her withering hand and took a deep breath.

She thought herself pathetic for how long she would continue to act foolishly in front of a client.

Collecting herself, Yeo Eun slowly turned around.

“I brought one that I pre-selected.”

She then took out a long box from the shopper bag on her shoulder. It was a tie she had chosen after careful consideration at the department store’s luxury brand section before coming here.

A sophisticated dark green tie that would complement Cha Do Ha’s black eyes well.

Opening the box to show him, Yeo Eun, now back in her professional demeanor, explained in a calm voice.

“Dark green rather than navy blue can create a softer image, leaving a good impression at a blind date. Especially with the Director’s eye color…”

The corner of Cha Do Ha’s mouth lifted in a cold smile.

“It matches well, creating an even more elegant…”

She couldn’t finish her sentence.

Because Cha Do Ha, with a coldly mocking smile, took the tie.

Standing in front of the mirror, he put the tie around his neck.

His hands, tying the tie skillfully with a cold expression, were exceptionally smooth.

Watching him, Yeo Eun spoke again.

“This blind date is very important for the Director’s position as well.”

Yeo Eun intended to emphasize the importance of this blind date to Cha Do Ha.

It was what she had prepared all night, based on Cha Hyun’s threat to cover Persona’s first promissory note if he quietly and obediently went through with the blind date and returned.

“If the Director’s five-year future business plan for Hanju Group receives help from ST Group, it could progress faster…”

“I know.”

Do Ha, who had already finished tying his tie, answered with a plain expression.

Then he slowly turned around.