“Are you really here to do sales?”

Cha Do Ha opened his mouth again.

With his dark eyes quietly taking in Yeo Eun, he put down his chopsticks and continued speaking.

“It’s been about 50 minutes, but you haven’t asked me to look at your portfolio.”

Cha Do Ha’s gaze pointed to the portfolio resting on her knees.

Yeo Eun put down her chopsticks and clasped her hands together, staring at him intently.

Looking at him again, he was truly handsome.

There wasn’t a single sharp edge to his features.

But he was excessively cold.

Especially his dark eyes.

As if he lacked the soul that a person should rightfully possess, looking into them made her heart feel chilled by the lack of warmth.

How could she persuade a man like this?

“If I ask you to look at it, will you?”

“No.”

The heartless answer came out without even a second’s hesitation.

For a moment, she felt indignant.

If he wasn’t going to look at it anyway, why did he ask to eat together?

Was he trying to give her false hope?

She felt a fleeting urge to confront him about it.

But Yeo Eun didn’t say a word, she just swallowed hard.

In truth, she had expected Cha Do Ha to refuse.

What had defied her expectations was ending up eating together like this.

“I thought you wouldn’t look at it either.”

At Yeo Eun’s response, one of Cha Do Ha’s eyebrows raised crookedly.

“Then why did you come?”

Yeah, why did she come?

She didn’t have any plan.

Yeo Eun swallowed at Cha Do Ha’s question, at a loss for words.

“You’re not going to ask me to look at your portfolio, and you’re not going to ramble on about the benefits of image training.”

With her lips pressed tightly shut, Yeo Eun couldn’t even breathe out, uncomfortable under Cha Do Ha’s intense stare.

He looked at her as if he would devour her whole, then curled up one corner of his mouth crookedly.

“I’m asking why you came all dressed up prettily.”

Suddenly, it was as if she’d been hit on the back of the head, snapping her to attention.

It was quite a blatant question.

With a blatant voice.

She felt she knew how she must look in his eyes, without even having to ask.

“The tree…”

When told to use her beauty to become Cha Do Ha’s image trainer, she took off her glasses and redid her hair.

Knowing she would be meeting Cha Do Ha, she had spent the morning choosing her outfit and put extra effort into her makeup.

“I decided to strike ten times.”

Hoping that if she looked pretty in his eyes, he might look at her portfolio even once. But it was a misunderstanding.

Or rather, a mistake.

Cha Do Ha was not that kind of man.

Even as he called her pretty, the eyes looking at her were as sharp as ever.

“You decided to strike a tree ten times?”

Cha Do Ha chewed on her words, tilting his head slightly and snorting.

Even his snort was so cold that despite it being only mid-September, she felt as if her hands were freezing.

Maybe it was her heart that was freezing.

At that moment, Cha Do Ha’s smile faded and he slowly looked Yeo Eun up and down.

“That tree.”

Cha Do Ha’s gaze suddenly changed color.

“Do you think it will fall?”

It was like the languid gaze of a sated predator with prey right before its eyes.

A strange look that was a bit bored and a bit sticky made her palms tingle.

Barely swallowing the tension filling her throat to the point of dryness, Yeo Eun opened her mouth.

“Maybe…?”

At her answer, Cha Do Ha’s head tilted to the side.

A faint smile appeared on his beautifully drawn lips.

“Why? Because the axe is pretty? Even so, it’s still just an axe.”

“…”

Manager Kim Jung Joo sitting next to her choked on his water and coughed, but Cha Do Ha didn’t stop.

“You know you’re not that level, right?”

It felt like being doused with cold water from the top of her head.

“Don’t tell me you think you’re… very pretty?”

A chill ran down her spine, reaching to her very bones.

She cursed herself for dressing up prettily to win this mere contract. It was embarrassing and pathetic.

At best, she was just an axe.

A cruel glimmer flickered in Cha Do Ha’s eyes as he looked at her.

“Look up ‘actress Kim Hae Ri scandal’.”

Cha Do Ha threw out these puzzling words in a calm voice as he stood up.

“We’ll talk after that.”

“Wait a moment.”

Yeo Eun hurriedly grabbed Cha Do Ha as he was about to leave.

Even if she was just an axe, she couldn’t go back like this.

“I heard from Curator Cha Hyun that you attended the tape-cutting ceremony on behalf of the Chairman at today’s Hanju Department Store renewal event. For such occasions, a red tie would have been better than the gray tone you’re wearing now.”

Cha Do Ha’s brow furrowed slightly.

“If you chose a near-black gray tone to create a solemn atmosphere, it would make sense in terms of meaning, but I think it would have been more appropriate to show authority.”

“Authority?”

“Yes. Authority is red, Director. A cold smile is more effective in dominating others than frowning.”

Cha Do Ha’s expression changed subtly.

“And I’d like you to know that I’m… not just a pretty axe.”

Swallowing her self-loathing, Yeo Eun continued speaking, hiding her trembling voice.

“I’m an axe that’s quite sharp too.”

At this, a faint smile appeared at the corner of Cha Do Ha’s mouth.

“I’ll keep that in mind.”

Then he left the restaurant as naturally as he had entered.

“Haa.”

Only then could she breathe.

Her chest ached dully.

“Do I really have to go this far?”

Deep self-loathing was leaving a deep wound on her heart.

* * *

What an amusing woman.

As he got in the car, Do Ha looked out the window, recalling the woman he had left at the restaurant.

It was entertaining to see her face turn deathly pale without a hint of color. The way her white skin flushed peach was quite nice too.

He liked how her tightly clenched hands trembled slightly.

For a very brief moment, he was curious about how she might look in bed.

Wondering what face she would make if he crumpled all the world’s troubles into that fragile body.

Seo Yeo Eun, she said her name was.

The name of that woman who subtly stimulated his sadistic desires.

“Seo Yeo Eun…”

After quietly repeating the woman’s name, Do Ha snorted and turned his gaze from the window.

“Director.”

Manager Kim Jung Joo, who was driving, suddenly turned around and called to him.

Then, with a very troubled expression, he held out Do Ha’s work phone.

“It’s the Chairman.”

Chairman.

Do Ha gave a bitter smile and picked up the tablet beside him as he spoke.

“Decline it.”

Who among the Hanju Group members would dare to decline a call from Chairman Cha Ji Seop?

Do Ha was probably the only one.

Ignoring the phone vibrating incessantly, he opened the tablet and pulled up the business plans for each subsidiary for the first quarter of next year.

At this, Manager Kim Jung Joo made a distressed face.

“B-but, shouldn’t you report today’s renewal event to the Chairman…”

Without raising his eyes, Do Ha asked calmly.

“Do you really think it’s just about reporting the renewal event?”

The reason Chairman Cha Ji Seop called was obvious.

The report was just an excuse, and his real purpose was something else.

“Our Chairman has something he wants to hear from me. And I don’t want to answer that. So just drive. The light’s changed.”

At this cold response, Manager Kim Jung Joo seemed to acquiesce and put away the phone.

At that moment, the phone rang again.

This time it was Manager Kim Jung Joo’s phone.

Do Ha furrowed his brow in annoyance and put down the tablet.

“The old man.”

He would probably harass Manager Kim Jung Joo until Do Ha answered the phone.

“Turn it on.”

As soon as Do Ha gave permission, Manager Kim Jung Joo quickly turned on the speakerphone.

“Why are you bothering a working person?”

−I heard your aunt picked out a pretty girl for you, so why are you being stubborn?

Ignoring Do Ha’s words, Chairman Cha Ji Seop just blurted out what he wanted to say.

−What? Should I get you an even prettier one?

Do Ha’s face twisted coldly at Chairman Cha’s words, which lacked any subtlety.

−I got you a pretty girl as you wanted, so set a date for a matchmaking meeting with ST’s second daughter.

In the end, image training was just an excuse.

That woman was just bait put forward to make him a puppet of Hanju.

And a very pretty bait at that.

* * *

Seven months ago, his grandfather, Chairman Cha Ji Seop, came to see him in America.

[Isn’t it time you did something as a member of Hanju? How long are you going to stay like that with that good brain of yours?] [Do I look like I’m just playing around? I’m busy too.] [I know. I know what you’ve been up to. I’m saying to use that outstanding ability for Hanju.] [Do I really need to do that?]

Use it for Hanju, he says.

Who cares about such things?

Do Ha didn’t even bother to snort.

To such a Do Ha, Chairman Cha added words he couldn’t refuse, bluntly.

[Your brother is doing the work you should be doing, shouldn’t you help your brother too?] [I didn’t ask him to do it.] [The troublesome burden your dead father left behind. Even though In Woo stepped up to handle it in your place, you still say that?]

This is why he doesn’t even want to have a conversation.

Tangling up the past and present like this.

So he responded even more sarcastically.

[Should I be the only one grateful? You should be grateful too, Chairman. Your grandson is cleaning up the mess your son made.]

For a very brief moment, silence fell between the two.

But Chairman Cha, who didn’t show any emotional fluctuation, quietly opened his mouth.

[That’s why I… entrusted the company to In Woo. So you help your brother too. That’s what you and I should do.]

He felt irritated, but he couldn’t refuse.

[Take charge of the Strategic Planning Division at headquarters. We need a thug who can wield a knife in place of your soft brother.]

A thug, he says.

It was a fitting descriptor for him.

And something he could do better than anyone else.

[And one more thing. Lend your handsome face to Hanju. They say someone like you needs to be at the forefront to change the company’s old image.] [You’re asking for a lot. It seems like taking charge of the Strategic Planning Division is enough to play the role of a younger brother, doesn’t it?]

But Do Ha couldn’t help but stay silent at the words that followed.

[If you lend your face, I’ll set your mother free.]

He couldn’t find any justification to refuse.

No, it was what he had been wishing for since six years ago.

[I’ll lend my face. But I can’t take responsibility.]

He agreed, but he had no intention of going along easily.

Above all, he didn’t want to break the position he had worked hard to create until now.

[You know, right? That I’m literally a thug. Of course, a slightly different thug than what you want, Chairman.]

At his words, Chairman Cha let out a chuckle.

[I know full well. But if you become the face of Hanju, you’ll have to quit those thug acts,]

Thug Cha Do Ha.

It was an image he had deliberately created over the past six years.

He quite liked his position as Hanju’s playboy, freely indulging in pleasure and living a dissipated life.

At least they wouldn’t think of such a person as a blade to stand against In Woo, Hanju’s heir.

Moreover, such an image served as adequate camouflage and sufficient shield for the secret work he was conducting.

So he must continue to be a thug.

A thug who enjoys pleasure lying in women’s laps.

[Why are you doing this? What am I supposed to do if I don’t even have that pleasure?] [You can bring women home, can’t you?] [Bring women home? Are you telling me to get married?] [Marry ST’s second daughter.]