The left wing of the Flore Resort main building.

This was the suite room that Tae Wook used whenever he came down to Jeju Island.

Tae Wook was standing by the window, looking outside.

The night was deepening to the point where the lights adorning the outdoor garden looked unusually bright.

He brought the beer can he was holding to his mouth and gulped down about half of it.

He wiped the beer on his lips with the back of his hand.

– Senior is not that kind of person. Sacrificing for me and still comforting me…

Tae Wook seemed to hear Gyeo Wool’s sobbing voice in his ears.

And Gyeo Wool’s eyes filled with sad tears.

Her slender shoulders trembling as she wept.

And the image of Gyeo Wool walking into her house with no energy flashed before his eyes in turn.

“Huu…”

Tae Wook let out a deep sigh.

It was truly strange.

Just thinking about Gyeo Wool made his heart ache dully.

As if her sadness and worry had been transferred to him.

Tae Wook stared intently at his face reflected in the window and murmured.

“Maybe they’re a different kind of people from those around me.”

As he was about to bring the beer can to his mouth again, the doorbell rang announcing a visitor.

Was there an appointment?

Tae Wook’s face showed no annoyance or curiosity about the visitor.

He put the beer can down on the table and walked to the door.

When he opened the door, he saw Eun Young standing there with hostility clearly visible on her face.

“Welcome.”

Tae Wook welcomed Eun Young inside.

After she entered the room, he quietly closed the door.

“You must have been surprised that I asked to see you at such a late hour.”

“If you hadn’t sent a car, I would never have come. You know why, don’t you?”

Unlike Tae Wook’s polite tone, Eun Young’s tone was aggressive and cold.

“Please have a seat.”

Tae Wook pointed to the sofa for Eun Young.

“Let me get you something to drink. Cold or hot…”

“You don’t think I came here to leisurely drink something and chat with you, do you?”

Eun Young cut off Tae Wook’s words midway, clearly displeased.

“I’ll take that as you don’t need a drink.”

Despite her somewhat rude behavior, he remained unwaveringly polite.

“We can’t have an important conversation standing like this.”

Tae Wook again offered Eun Young the sofa.

She sat down on the sofa as if giving in.

“I’ve been thinking, you seem to think it’s better to overturn the contract instead?”

Eun Young raised her eyebrows sharply and stared at Tae Wook.

“That’s not possible. If it were that, I would have notified you by phone earlier.”

“Then, what did you call me here at this hour to say?”

“Before going to the fish restaurant, there was a meeting with the executives.”

“And?”

“The executives’ evaluation of the vertical garden construction was very positive.”

It seemed that preparing additional materials for the briefing had worked well.

“Those words won’t shake my resolve. I won’t send Gyeo Wool to you.”

“Ms. Bang, you’re a better person than I thought.”

Perhaps thinking Tae Wook’s words were out of the blue.

Eun Young’s face contorted considerably.

“Until now, I’ve lived believing that unless a person is a fool, no one gives up their own interests for others.”

That’s why he could definitively tell Gyeo Wool that Eun Young would also become ruthless in the face of her own interests.

“It seems I’ll have to change my thinking because of you, Ms. Bang.”

“What on earth are you talking about?”

Eun Young narrowed her eyes and looked at Tae Wook with a suspicious gaze.

“There’s not a single person like you around me, Ms. Bang.”

“Don’t you know the meaning of ‘birds of a feather flock together’? Who can you blame? It’s probably because you don’t give trust to others in return.”

Eun Young spoke sarcastically.

“My, you speak quite harshly.”

At Tae Wook’s words, Eun Young tensed slightly.

She thought her words had finally touched a nerve.

However, Tae Wook just chuckled and rubbed his thick eyebrows with his fingers.

“I’ll take your words as a twist on the saying ‘know thyself’ and engrave them in my heart.”

“You didn’t call me here just to play word games, did you?”

Eun Young spoke sharply.

She thought Tae Wook was deliberately holding back his anger.

Otherwise, there was no way he would accept her provocations to this extent.

“Just tell me your business.”

“I’d like you to take on the resort construction.”

“Did you hear my words with deaf ears? I clearly stated my intention to not do it.”

“I’d also like ‘The Space’ to take on and proceed with the construction of the employee training center that was rejected last time.”

“…What did you say?”

Eun Young couldn’t speak immediately at these unexpected words.

“You commissioned the training center because of Gyeo Wool, didn’t you?”

“Of course, it was because of Secretary Han. But I’m not the kind of person who does business emotionally to the extent of entrusting construction to a company without the necessary capabilities.”

Tae Wook’s words now reminded her of the advice he had given Eun Young at the fish restaurant.

“But wasn’t that construction supposed to be done by B Construction?”

“Ah! You must have thought so. At the final review stage, they said they couldn’t meet the construction period, so it was put on hold.”

“Then you really…”

“Yes. I will officially commission ‘The Space’ for both the training center and the resort construction.”

[This is the timeline separator]

The next day.

Unlike yesterday when the office was excited on the eve of the contract, a heavy silence had settled.

It was so quiet that even the sound of a pin dropping seemed audible.

Gyeo Wool’s gaze, unable to focus on documents and wandering, landed on the tightly closed representative’s office.

Since coming to work, Eun Young hadn’t thought of coming out of the representative’s office except to go to the bathroom.

She had even skipped lunch.

Once, when Eun Young came out to go to the bathroom, Gyeo Wool tried to follow her.

But seeing Eun Young’s darkly sunken expression.

Hurrying her steps to avoid even making eye contact, Gyeo Wool gave up on following her.

“Team leader, what’s happening with the resort contract?”

The youngest female employee approached hurriedly and asked worriedly.

“I heard the person our representative fought with was the Flore Resort representative.”

Yesterday, an employee saw Tae Wook sending away Director Seok and the executives at the fish restaurant.

Word spread in the company that Tae Wook might have been the Flore Resort representative.

“Did their representative get angry and cancel the contract? Is that why our representative isn’t moving at all?”

Should it be considered fortunate?

No employee knew that Eun Young had expressed her intention to reject the contract.

If the contract fell through, they would think the resort side refused it.

“It’s not like that.”

Gyeo Wool denied it for now.

But not knowing what Eun Young’s decision was, she felt anxious and frustrated.

“The time…”

Gyeo Wool turned her gaze to the digital clock on the wall.

As planned, they should have been leaving for the resort by now.

“I’ll go see the representative.”

Gyeo Wool stood up from her seat.

At that moment, Eun Young came out carrying the gray briefcase she takes when going out.

“Representative, are you going to the resort?”

The employee standing next to Gyeo Wool asked.

“If we leave now, we won’t be late, right?”

A faint smile appeared on Eun Young’s lips.

“Senior…”

“Representative!”

There was no one who didn’t understand that Eun Young meant she was going to the resort to sign the contract.

“I’ll go sign the contract and come back.”

Eun Young said, looking at Gyeo Wool.

Whether she had stayed up all night worrying instead of sleeping, Gyeo Wool’s face had lost weight in just one day.

– Please keep the training center construction a secret from Secretary Han for now.

– Why?

– Well, let’s say it’s because I want to have at least one secret from Secretary Han.

Eun Young recalled what Tae Wook had said before leaving the resort.

Although Tae Wook said to keep it a secret, should she tell her?

Pondering, she approached Gyeo Wool.

“Senior, thank you.”

“The one who should be thankful is me, not you, Gyeo Wool.”

“No.”

Gyeo Wool shook her head.

“You protected the company so I could come back to Jeju Island.”

“Yes. I’ll keep our company safe.”

Eun Young held Gyeo Wool’s hand for a long time with the hand not holding the bag.

“You’ll be late at this rate.”

Gyeo Wool urged Eun Young.

“You know not to slack off while I’m gone, right?”

Eun Young spoke to the employees who were all looking at her.

“Yes!”

“Of course!”

“I’ll write down and report any employees who slack off.”

The employees answered Eun Young brightly with relieved faces.

Eun Young smiled even more brightly and left the company.

Thud!

Gyeo Wool’s legs gave out and she sat down in the chair.

It was because she had been too tense.

“It worked out. It really worked out well.”

Gyeo Wool murmured, staring into space without focus.

[This is the timeline separator]

Late Friday night.

Gyeo Wool pulled out the printed paper from the copier and returned to her seat.

It was a list of materials she had saved on her computer.

She had made it thinking it might help the employees while she was up in Seoul.

After inserting the paper into a file, she looked down at her neatly organized desk.

“I’m really leaving.”

It finally felt real.

The fact that she had to leave Jeju and go to Seoul.

“I’ll come back. Take good care of the company.”

Gyeo Wool tapped the desk as if talking to a person and turned around.

After getting in the car, she looked out at the company building.

The feeling was quite strange.

Undefinable, but lonely and like there was a hole in her chest.

She thought how nice it would be to have someone by her side on a day like today.

“I should have listened to Senior.”

Gyeo Wool had refused when Eun Young asked her to have dinner, saying she needed to organize materials.

Organizing materials was an excuse, and it was hard for her to see Eun Young feeling sorry for her.

But if she had known her heart would be this heavy, it might have been better to be with Eun Young.

“Let’s just go home and pack.”

Just as Gyeo Wool pulled herself together and started the car.

Her phone rang from inside the bag on the passenger seat.

“Who could it be at this hour?”

Gyeo Wool wondered as she took out her phone from the bag.

“Representative?”

The caller was Tae Wook.

Gyeo Wool answered the phone right away.

“It’s me.”

[Were you resting?]

“No. I’m just leaving work now. What about you, Representative?”

Gyeo Wool became curious about Tae Wook.

[I just came down to the parking lot too.]

Of course.

Tae Wook never left work early.

“But what’s the matter?”

[I was worried about Secretary Han. It must feel like when you’re resigning.]

Tae Wook’s warm and concerned voice.

For a moment, Gyeo Wool felt her large eyes grow hot and moisture gather.

This man named Kang Tae Wook.

To think he was a man who could convey such warm comfort.

Gyeo Wool’s heart began to beat loudly, making a thumping sound.