An upscale Japanese restaurant located in Sinsa-dong, Seoul.

“Thank you all for coming like this.”

An elderly man with a dignified gaze spoke, his age quite advanced.

“Not at all. Of course we should come when you call us.”

“Of course, uncle.”

The one making everyone bow their heads was none other than Choi Maeng Ho, the former owner of the LU Group.

Although he had stepped down two years ago, handing over the chairmanship to Choi Yu Ria, he still held a tight grip on political circles and remained the most influential figure in the family.

The people he had gathered were all representatives who had taken over LU Group’s affiliates.

Among them was Choi Yu Ria, the current chairwoman of LU Group.

As the most favored by Choi Maeng Ho, she had inherited the chairmanship as a woman, bypassing her two younger brothers, and today she again occupied his right side.

“I just received a birthday feast recently, but the reason I called you all together is that it seems the time has finally come.”

Choi Maeng Ho began with an ominous introduction.

Even without revealing the details, everyone roughly knew what that “time” meant.

LU Department Store, the most promising business in the LU Group.

Currently managed and supervised by Chairwoman Choi Yu Ria with a high stake, it was the only business without a designated successor.

Given LU Group’s custom of designating and nurturing successors at least 20 years in advance, the fact that a successor wasn’t even being discussed was quite a serious issue.

“You mean LU Department Store? Where Hwa Young is currently a director.”

Chairwoman Choi Yu Ria deliberately included Hwa Young’s name.

As soon as his name was heard, her two twin younger brothers chimed in, not to be outdone.

“Chairman Choi. You should speak accurately. Is Hwa Young the only director there? Jun Ho is also sitting as a director there.”

“Remember that my eldest son Min Jae is there too. You know overseas sales have skyrocketed since he took charge of the overseas team, right?”

Fearing they might lose the department store business, the two who had placed their children as directors like straws showed their competitiveness once again without fail.

But to Chairwoman Choi Yu Ria, it seemed like nothing more than an unreasonable stubbornness.

Since the department store business led by their late father had been passed on to Chairwoman Choi Yu Ria, it was perhaps natural that Hwa Young would be next in line.

“Yes, as you all expected, it’s about the department store issue. I hear the spectacle of directors fighting over rank is quite something. Especially Jun Ho and Min Jae. They say a bloodbath erupts inside the department store at the drop of a hat.”

Choi Maeng Ho clicked his tongue at the end of his words and glared at his two younger brothers.

Noticing that Hwa Young’s name was omitted, Chairwoman Choi Yu Ria took a sip of coffee, hiding her sneer.

“So I decided to make it clear. I thought if I set a clear direction, at least it would sort things out.”

Finally, the words they had been waiting for were spoken.

Chairwoman Choi Yu Ria put down her coffee cup and eagerly waited for her son’s name to be called.

The two younger brothers, who had placed their sons but weren’t confident they could beat Choi Yu Ria’s line, nervously watched Choi Maeng Ho’s expression.

After a moment of silence…

“After Choi Yu Ria… let Choi Min Jae succeed.”

Choi Maeng Ho chose one person.

Contrary to everyone’s expectations, the eldest son of the first of the twin younger brothers was selected.

He, who had desperately desired this moment, stood up abruptly and bowed 90 degrees to Choi Maeng Ho.

“Thank you for trusting me. Our Min Jae will do extremely well. Just as he has done so far.”

But those who weren’t chosen had much to say.

Choi Yu Ria’s second younger brother shook his head as if he couldn’t accept this choice.

Seeing the joy and sorrow instantly divided, Choi Maeng Ho opened his mouth with a serious expression.

“I know Jun Ho has worked hard too. I hear he’s been working to improve the domestic image. But he’s still lacking in capability compared to Min Jae. The overseas store owners also trust Min Jae more.”

“But uncle…”

“Just because you didn’t become the head doesn’t mean your existence loses meaning. I think you can fulfill Jun Ho’s role not under Min Jae, but beside him. Do you understand what I mean?”

“Huh… Yes.”

The answer came immediately, but given the sensitive nature of the issue, it wouldn’t be possible to accept it right away.

Choi Maeng Ho added some nice words to the losing side to prevent further comments.

“It would be perfect if Min Jae focuses more on the global side and Jun Ho puts his efforts into the domestic position. Although I’ve selected Min Jae as the representative, I have expectations for Jun Ho too, so I’m thinking of recognizing a substantial stake for him.”

It was truly a great answer reflecting years of experience and expertise.

Just seeing the gloomy face of the second younger brother brighten up at the mention of a substantial stake showed that his decision was correct.

If there was a problem here, it was just one.

Throughout this entire discussion, Hwa Young wasn’t mentioned even once.

Chairwoman Choi Yu Ria asked with a bitter smile.

“Uncle. What about Hwa Young?”

Choi Maeng Ho’s gaze turned to Chairwoman Choi Yu Ria.

Unlike before, his suddenly cold eyes somehow sent chills down the spine.

“Hwa Young?”

“I’m not opposing your choice, uncle… but it seems you haven’t mentioned Director Do Hwa Young even once.”

The response that followed was extremely brief.

“That guy, well.”

The dismissive title and cold response, as if he wasn’t even worth mentioning.

“Pardon…?”

To Chairwoman Choi Yu Ria, who had frozen in disbelief at what she heard and saw, Choi Maeng Ho deliberately delivered a finishing blow-like comment.

“This is a meeting to discuss department store management. I don’t want to bring up talk about that guy.”

Not mentioning Hwa Young’s existence at all was tantamount to saying he wouldn’t recognize Hwa Young’s position in this department store.

At his unexpected decision, a cold crack appeared in the eyes of Chairwoman Choi Yu Ria, who had lost her words.

* * *

Ji Wan is staying in her room.

It’s Sunday, when she could sleep in, but she woke up having barely slept at all.

From outside, the sound of brewing coffee and rustling newspapers has been heard since 8 AM, but she’s keeping quiet, suppressing her presence as much as possible.

Suddenly becoming like a mouse in hiding was due to last night’s transgression.

The 3-minute kiss done as an unavoidable punishment and the 10-minute kiss that followed.

The problem was the latter.

Ji Wan can’t understand how on earth she ended up doing such an incredible thing with Joo Tae Sung.

The strangest part wasn’t Tae Sung who initiated the kiss, but Ji Wan herself who fully accepted it.

The second, longer and deeper kiss clearly had the option of refusal, but.

Last night’s her naturally accepted his lips as if it was the natural order of things.

‘This is all because of alcohol. The problem is that both Joo Tae Sung and I were drunk. Besides, I was more drunk than him, wasn’t I?’

Ji Wan tried to blame everything on alcohol.

It was because she thought it might make her feel a bit more honorable, but she still couldn’t muster the courage to open the door and face Joo Tae Sung.

So she kept pacing in front of the door, trying to erase yesterday’s memories, when.

Knock knock―

“If you’re up, why don’t you come out? Brunch is ready.”

Tae Sung lightly knocked on the door and called out to Ji Wan. His voice was utterly calm, unlike the flustered Ji Wan.

Startled by his voice, Ji Wan stood awkwardly in the middle of the room and answered.

“Yes? Ah! I just woke up! The knock just woke me!”

It was terrible voice acting, even to her own ears.

Sure enough, the sound of a sneer escaping through Tae Sung’s lips could be heard.

“Really? I heard movements from inside for quite a while, so I thought you’d woken up earlier than me.”

“Th-th-there’s no way! You know how much I love sleeping in…”

“I’ll remember that from now on. The soup’s getting cold, so eat brunch first and then wash up.”

“Okay, I’m coming out now!”

Ji Wan first checked the mirror on the wall as soon as she answered.

More concerning than her messy hair and tired eyes were her lips, which were more chapped than usual.

It wasn’t the total of 13 minutes of kissing that had done this.

If there was a cause, it was probably that she kept touching her lips absentmindedly after coming home half-dazed when the kiss ended.

“Sigh, it’s already hard enough to face him, and now this on top of it.”

Ji Wan thickly applied lip gloss to hide her chapped lips.

Then, after taking three deep breaths and praying that Joo Tae Sung wouldn’t bring up yesterday’s events, she finally left the room.

Coming out from the poorly lit room into the sun-filled living room, her eyes automatically squinted like a prisoner finally released from a dark cell.

“Good morning.”

Tae Sung greeted her first.

It wasn’t a good morning at all, but Ji Wan smiled and responded naturally to act normal.

“Yes, good morning to you too, Tae Sung!”

“You seem in an especially good mood today.”

“No way.”

“What did you put on your lips?”

“Just… lip gloss. They felt a bit dry this morning.”

“So you get dry in the mornings. They were so moist last night.”

The prayer from earlier became useless in just one minute.

He was surely a man that even the devil would bow down to, bringing up the kiss topic with a smile as soon as they met face to face.

Though her heart sank, Ji Wan maintained a nonchalant expression and sat down at the dining table.

Then, looking straight into Tae Sung’s eyes, she said firmly.

“Let’s not mention what happened yesterday. It was a punishment, wasn’t it?”

“For 3 minutes, it was.”

“The 10 minutes after that was the same for me. It was like an extension of the punishment.”

“If you extended the punishment that much, you must have really liked it.”

Tae Sung’s mouth curved up smoothly as he said this.

Ji Wan almost lost her words for a moment at his all too logical statement, but she barely held onto her reason and retorted.

“It was because of the alcohol. The alcohol.”

“Ah, the alcohol.”

“You know. Drunk people do all sorts of things.”

“True, we did drink quite a bit yesterday.”

“Don’t even mention it. I was completely wasted.”

Ji Wan even held her head, pretending to suffer from a hangover to add credibility to her drunkenness theory.

Tae Sung poured coffee into the cup in front of her, letting out a snicker.

At his attitude that somehow didn’t seem to believe her at all, Ji Wan emphasized once more with sharpened eyes.

“So don’t attach any meaning to it. Let’s just think of yesterday as a happening and move on.”

Tae Sung, who had finished filling her coffee cup in the meantime, answered leisurely.

“I thought it was a happening.”

“Really?”

“Until just now.”

“Why until just now?”

“If you’re curious, go look in the mirror.”

At his puzzling answer, Ji Wan stood up stealthily.

Watching Tae Sung’s reaction, she walked to the bathroom and looked in the mirror, where instead of the Ji Wan in her mind who had boldly said what needed to be said, there stood a tomato with a bright red face.

“Ah…!”

Ji Wan let out a single exclamation, only now realizing her appearance like that of a teenage girl.

He followed behind her and leaned casually against the bathroom door, saying.

“Quite a sight, isn’t it? You keep blushing every time we talk about the kiss.”

Knowing it was an additional comment meant to tease her, Ji Wan’s heart still fluttered thump-thump.

He’s a man who keeps making me unable to control even my own body properly.

Thinking about it, I guess the responsibility for last night lies with me for allowing myself to stay in this house even though I knew what kind of person he was.

With no one left to blame, Ji Wan’s eyes wavered as if about to cry at any moment.

It was the moment when Tae Sung’s mood became most exhilarating.