Yoon Ga Eul spent the entire week locked up in her studio, trying her best to follow his instructions.

However, without her own will to back it up, the work showed no signs of progress.

She kept trying to draw, but the results were not very satisfactory. At this rate, it seemed like she might receive worse feedback than before.

If it wasn’t because she couldn’t draw well, wouldn’t it be a better choice to safely submit her previous works?

The studio already had several unfinished canvases scattered around carelessly. Some of them were completed, but they were not satisfactory results.

As if she had hit a slump.

‘I wasn’t like this even during the entrance exams……’

They say everything is difficult and clumsy at first. But that wasn’t the case for her.

When it came to art, she had an unusually quick eye and talent to back it up, so she was always able to follow in her father’s footsteps as the chairman wanted and satisfy him.

As long as she put in the effort, she could produce perfect results for any request, so she always worked harder than others. She felt it with her own body from a young age that as long as she worked hard, the results were satisfactory in proportion to the effort put in, even if it was difficult.

However, fixing habits that have been repeated and hardened over 10 years overnight seemed… a bit too much.

Her body was already busy following the hand movements of her father that she had seen as a child, like a machine that had only learned that.

It felt like she was trying to imitate her father’s paintings.

He was… the first person ever to make such an assessment of her.

Shaking off the useless thoughts, Ga Eul shook her head and picked up the brush again to focus on her work.

However, the work made no more progress than yesterday. Rather, it only moved slowly.

She kept trying, but in fact… she had lost confidence a long time ago.

* * *

The next day, Ga Eul selected a few of the works she had drawn and sent them to the gallery. Then, she visited the office.

She knew what kind of feedback she would receive. She knew it well herself.

Naturally… they were all disliked.

“Miss Yoon Ga Eul. Are you okay?”

“Yes. I’m fine, Gwan Jang-nim.”

Ga Eul tried to smile, but her complexion didn’t look good, so it wasn’t very convincing.

“Hmm… You don’t look fine at all.”

Was it such a difficult request…? At Park Gwan Jang’s murmur, Ga Eul’s shoulders trembled.

At this rate, the works she originally drew would be exhibited.

Of course, those paintings were also precious to her as she had drawn them with all her heart. But she felt somehow deflated by the fact that she couldn’t bring the results the gallery wanted. It felt like her abilities were lacking.

Still, Park Gwan Jang made an effort to praise Ga Eul, who had drawn several more works in that short period of time.

“It’s okay. The attempt is what’s important. I told you beforehand. If it doesn’t work out, we can just exhibit the works you’ve already drawn, so don’t worry too much. The president advised you because he thought it would help you, Miss Ga Eul. He wasn’t forcing you to draw them. Let’s wrap up this exhibition with the ones you’ve already drawn. Good work.”

“…Yes. Thank you, Gwan Jang-nim.”

Creak.

At that moment, the sound of someone pushing the door open and entering was heard. Ga Eul didn’t have the energy to care who it was and just buried her head in her knees.

Only Park Gwan Jang greeted the person entering very politely.

“You’re here, President. You got off work early?”

“Yes, all the busy work has passed now. …What’s with her?”

“Haha, Miss Ga Eul had something upsetting happen.”

Han Gi Tae, who was looking down at Ga Eul with her head buried in her knees without even greeting him in his own office, pulled out one of her arms and tugged her up.

As her limp upper body was lifted, her hidden face was fully revealed.

“You’re not going to greet me?”

“Ah, I’m sorry. It was you, President… Hello…”

“What’s this. You look terrible.”

Park Gwan Jang showed him the two drawings Ga Eul had brought instead of explaining to Han Gi Tae, who was giving a questioning look as if asking what happened.

His brows furrowed.

“There’s no change at all…?”

Before the actual evaluation even began, he exhaled and saw her shoulders trembling at a single breath and her deeply downcast eyes. Nevertheless, he pointed out the flaws one by one.

“First of all, putting aside the issue of drawing well or not, none of the points I pointed out have been fixed. I’m sure I conveyed that it’s okay even if you don’t draw well…?”

Seeing the results that seemed like she hadn’t accepted his advice, he put down the drawing and asked.

“Are you saying you don’t need the advice?”

It wasn’t a scolding tone. However, if she agreed with that question, he would withdraw his advice and interest from her without regret.

That was the most frightening thing for Ga Eul. There was nothing good about looking bad to him.

Startled, Ga Eul hurriedly waved her hands and cautiously said,

“No! That’s not it. I tried my best… but I guess because the way I’ve been drawing for the past 10 years is so ingrained in my body, I can’t figure out how to get rid of it…”

Since she hadn’t been able to bring satisfactory results, anything she said seemed like an excuse.

‘Even though I said it myself, it sounds like an excuse.’

Having finished her answer, Ga Eul pressed her lips tightly together as if she had given up.

“The way you’ve been drawing for 10 years? Do you have a particular work style you’re insisting on? What is it?”

“…Pardon?”

He took her story seriously without thinking it was an excuse.

“Yeah. Let’s hear about how you usually work. And why each of your drawings reminds people of your father’s paintings.”

…It was unexpected.

When she said she wanted advice, he began to listen to her story quite seriously.

After staring at him blankly for a moment, Ga Eul quickly came to her senses and answered.

“Um… First of all, once I decide on a subject to draw…”

At the gaze that seemed to tell her to keep talking, Ga Eul carefully chose her words.

“I would think about how my father would have drawn it. Or if there were similar works. Then I would draw in the most similar way possible.”

“…?”

“And I would keep repeating the drawing in the way my father did. By doing that, I could create a quite similar feeling to the paintings my father drew while he was alive… No matter what it was.”

“…”

At Ga Eul’s answer, he stared at her as if he couldn’t understand.

Perhaps… such a reaction would be natural. Because she might be the only person in the world who draws paintings in this way.

“Why are you insisting on that method?”

At his question, Ga Eul let out a silly laugh for a moment. Because she also agreed with his reaction to some extent.

It wasn’t her intention.

“The chairman wanted that.”

He made a deflated sound for a moment as if dumbfounded. Then, he said quietly,

“This won’t do. You, come to the front of the gallery this weekend.”

* * *

As promised with him, Ga Eul went to the front of the gallery on the weekend.

Upon arriving, she saw him leaning against the car body, talking to someone on the phone.

Spotting him, Ga Eul stopped walking and stared at him for a moment.

She had only seen him in a suit, but now he was wearing jeans and a white shirt, which felt a bit different. Since it wasn’t his usual look, it felt a little unfamiliar.

Due to the unfamiliarity, Ga Eul found herself sneaking glances at him unknowingly.

Feeling awkward by herself, Ga Eul scratched her neck and slowly approached him.

“President. Hello.”

Instead of a warm greeting, he noticed Ga Eul and nodded.

“Oh, yeah. Go ahead and get in first.”

* * *

Since it was a promise made while talking about paintings, she thought they were heading to the studio.

“What do you usually draw?”

“I mostly draw flowers or trees. Whether landscapes or still lifes.”

“I see.”

However, after asking a brief question, he was driving the sedan to a place far from such locations.

Ga Eul subtly asked where they were going, but he only said she would know when they got there. After driving for a long time, they arrived at a sizable botanical garden next to an amusement park.

For a moment, the illusion that they were on a date together passed by. Anyone would have that illusion at least once in a botanical garden like this… but Ga Eul already knew very well that he wasn’t that kind of person.

‘There must be something for me to study here, so he brought me here? What could it be…?’

It was a bit new to go to a botanical garden instead of the studio. Ga Eul’s eyes scanning the botanical garden also became much more serious at some point.

Noticing Ga Eul’s expression, he disrupted her attention by pulling her shoulder.

“I can see everything you’re thinking. I didn’t bring you here for that, so don’t think complicated thoughts and just look at what you see. If you smell a fragrance, go and smell it. If you want to touch something, try touching it too.”

“…Pardon? Ah, yes.”

The tension from her suddenly pulled shoulder was momentary.

At his words, Ga Eul, who had opened her eyes wide for a moment, soon tilted her head.

If there wasn’t something to learn here, why did he bring her all the way to the botanical garden? Just to look at and feel what she sees?

She suddenly became curious as to why he had brought her to the botanical garden to teach her something, but Ga Eul soon began to look around the botanical garden as he said.

Her eyes soon sparkled with curiosity. The botanical garden she visited after a long time hit Ga Eul’s taste perfectly.

‘Wow… it’s really pretty. The scent is nice too.’

She had thought spring flowers were the best, but the summer flowers were also quite charming. At some point, Ga Eul, who was very excited, was busy going ahead of him who was walking slowly. There was so much to see.

With the flowers gathered together, the fragrance also rose vividly, lifting her mood. The head that had been locked up in the studio, struggling with only paintings, seemed to clear up.

‘This is healing.’

As Ga Eul was rummaging here and there like that, her eyes caught a morning glory flower similar to a trumpet creeper. Having found the flower her father taught her when she was young, Ga Eul unknowingly looked for him first, feeling happy.

“President! Doesn’t this flower look just like a trumpet creeper? But it’s actually a morning glory. The two only differ slightly in color and look exactly alike. I also mistook the morning glory for a trumpet creeper at first…”

Ga Eul, who had been chattering excitedly, turned around.

Ga Eul, who had been smiling at the flowers, turned to look at him with the same expression, and he had approached right behind her without her noticing and poked his head over her shoulder to answer.

“Yeah. You’re right. How do you know something like that too?”

“…”

The president’s voice was so close that it was rumbling right next to her ear.

He was so close that all her senses were focused there, so Ga Eul only rolled her eyes blankly instead of answering. Then he, who had been looking down at the flowers, gave her a questioning look and asked.

“Yoon Ga Eul?”

Oops. What did he ask just now? What did he say?

“Wh-what did you say?”

“I asked how you know something like that.”

“Ah…! My father taught me when I was young. Since he enjoyed drawing flowers, there was a lot he knew…”

“So you didn’t only learn painting from your father.”

“Yes. That’s right. He always taught me this and that…”

As they were having a small conversation while looking at the morning glory, he suddenly pointed to her hair with his hand. Then, he told her to remove it herself as if telling her to do it directly.

“Yoon Ga Eul. There’s a flower petal stuck in your hair.”

“Oh, where?”

“There.”

Ga Eul fumbled through her hair following his nod, but she couldn’t figure out where it was.

“Here…?”

“No, not there.”

As Ga Eul kept floundering, he sighed, unable to watch any longer, and reached out his hand.

“…”

Oh my.

His touch lingered on her hair for a moment before falling away.

The petal must have been stuck on the back because Ga Eul felt her body stiffen at the suddenly approaching figure and the refreshing scent wafting towards her.

“Got it off.”

“Ah, it was further back. Thank you, President.”

Feeling awkward for no reason, Ga Eul bit her lower lip and rolled her eyes back and forth until he took a step back and dropped the petal he was holding on the ground.

“…”

“…”

Since the excited Ga Eul had been the one to strike up conversations first after arriving at the botanical garden, silence flowed between the two as she pressed her lips tightly together.

He must have found it strange that her talkativeness suddenly decreased, so he asked.

“What’s wrong?”

‘What the. Why am I like this…?’

Startled by her own suddenly timid behavior, Ga Eul hurriedly pointed to the place where people were gathered and changed the subject.

“No. It’s nothing much… There are a lot of people gathered over there, so I was curious about what’s there.”

Ga Eul quickly left his side and moved as far away as possible.